Shades of Grey
by Kari Lynn Cortez
Summary: The world is getting darker (and Ginny doesn't know the half of it), it's down to survival of the fittest. In spite of everything, she's determined to change things, for the sake of the future. As the worls around her spins in Shades of Grey, take the tri
1. In Spite of Everything: Introduction

Full Summery: The world is getting darker (and Ginny doesn't know the half of it), it's down to survival of the fittest. In spite of everything, she's determined to change things, for the sake of the future. Read as Ginny goes on a quest for change, for the upset of all things evil. As she sets out to change the world, she finds a change within herself, within her own heart, she realizes what life is worth living, and how lucky she really is.

A/N- PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! I'd really appreciate it! I'm going for 10 reviews on this thing, now it has the most reviews out of all my fics (it has 3 now) and I'm hoping for 10! I have a plot, and it's based on the following poem, I think it's cool, but everyone's entitles to their own opinion. Please read!

Introduction:

**Cold as winter, strong as stone;**

**She faced the darkness all alone.**

**A silver goddess; a reflection,**

**A mirage; a recollection.**

**No return, no turning back**

**The past is gone, the future, black.**

**Serpents gather in their nest,**

**As she stands above the rest.**

**Shadows hunt: she hunts the shadow,**

**The moon has risen, she stands below.**

**She views her world through the eyes of others,**

**Black and White, there are no colors.**

**As she looks down upon a shattered youth,**

**A shattered mirror shows a shattered truth.**

**"And when the sun comes out tomorrow, let it shine."**   
  
  
Mystery. Love. Romance. Lust. Hate. Anger. Death. Angst. That's what the very core of our existence is made of. We go through life, experiencing so many different emotions; it makes us who we are. It makes your life the way it has come to be. Sometimes, it feels like you're just living a lie, or living in a book, being written by the very creator itself.   
  
If a doubt has ever crossed your mind, that someone was just playing with your mind... and your heart, you were probably correct in everyway. Peoples' emotions are so complex, and intricate, that you never really know when they truly mean it, or mean to embarrass your soul...   
  
And then everything comes falling down, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. Everything just disappears, and you don't know who to turn to, or who to turn with. And as fast as your life began, it gets swept away out from under your very feet... to be gone forever... to never be found.

Yet, In Spite of Everything, you must go on; go on, or give up. No matter what, even if your entire existence is only in Shades of Grey, choice is something beyond our control. 

  Well, I'll get on with my little speech, and say, "Welcome to the Existence, of Virginia Ginger Belladonna Andromeda Weasley."   
  
If at any moment you feel as if you're going to fall off the seat of your comfy computer chair, please hold on tight, because you'll get a bigger dosage of surprises, and cliffy's swinging your way!

This is dedicated to Kim, a loyal reader on my past fics, and the girl who let me use this poem to create a fic! You're awesome!


	2. ISOE: Harryland

Disclaimer: The characters and settings of _Harry Potter _belong to the wonderful and talented J.K. Rowling, whom I thank very much for the loan of her playground. The plot, however, and anything you do not recognize, belongs to me. I am not making any profit from the writing and display of this story, except for gratification of my ego and quenching my thirst to write.

Introduction:

**Cold as winter, strong as stone;**

**She faced the darkness all alone.**

**A silver goddess; a reflection,**

**A mirage; a recollection.**

**No return, no turning back**

**The past is gone, the future, black.**

**Serpents gather in their nest,**

**As she stands above the rest.**

**Shadows hunt: she hunts the shadow,**

**The moon has risen, she stands below.**

**She views her world through the eyes of others,**

**Black and White, there are no colors.**

**As she looks down upon a shattered youth,**

**A shattered mirror shows a shattered truth.**

"**And when the sun comes out tomorrow, let it shine."**

Mystery. Love. Romance. Lust. Hate. Anger. Death. Angst. That's what the very core of our existence is made of. We go through life experiencing so many different emotions; it makes us who we are. It forms your life, making it the way it has come to be. Sometimes, it feels like you're just living a lie, or living in a book being written by the very creator itself.

If a doubt has ever crossed your mind that someone was just playing with your mind, and your heart, you were probably correct in every way. People's emotions are so complex and intricate that you never really know when they truly mean it, or mean to embarrass your soul...

And then everything comes falling down, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. Everything just disappears, and you don't know who to turn to, or who to turn with. And as fast as your life began, it gets swept away out from under your very feet... to be gone forever... to never be found.

Yet, In Spite of Everything, you must go on; go on, or give up. No matter what, even if your entire existence is only in Shades of Grey, choice is something beyond our control.

Well, I'll get on with my little speech and say, "Welcome to the existence of Virginia Ginger Belladonna Andromeda Weasley."

If at any moment you feel as if you're going to fall off the seat of your comfy computer chair, please hold on tight, because you'll get a bigger dosage of surprises and cliffhangers swinging your way!

She's in Harryland, and Everyone Knows It 

"Ohhhhh," I sighed to myself as I watched him play chess with my brother. Harry Potter. Just his name implied greatness. I could have sat there for hours just watching his perfect features as he played chess.

"Ginny!" A voice jerked me out of my fantasy world. "Ginny! There you are. I need help on this. I've been looking for you for ages, I…" she stopped and glanced at Harry. "Oh, I should have known, Ginny. Get over him. He's your brother's best friend, he's the nicest guy to walk the earth, and he's famous!"

"Yeah, I know," I sighed, settling deeper into the chair.

"You're never going to get him."

"I can dream…" And with that I slipped back into Harryland.

"Ginny? Ginny! Oh, this is hopeless."

"What is it?" I asked, turning around to face my best friend Jennifer Moliby, also known as Jenna.

"Ginny, I have been trying to get your attention for the past ten minutes. I need help on this Defense Against the Dark Arts essay."

"OK, well, what is it?"

"I need to write an essay on the sixteen methods of slowing an attacking force down, and I can only remember three of them," she whined.

"Did you think of using the book?"

"I lost mine," she pouted.

"Fine!" I pulled out my copy of _The Darkest Forces of Earth: A Guide to Self-Protection for Those Who Have a Knack for Attracting Trouble_. "Page 161," I absentmindedly said, handing Jenna the book. I slipped back into my History of Magic book immediately after, excited to be at my favorite part. My favorite part being, of course, the early 1980s: You-Know-Who's first fall, made possible by none other than my favorite boy – the Boy Who Lived, the Boy Who Is Living Now, or, my favorite, the Boy-Who-Will-Someday-Change-Ginny-Weasley's-Last-Name-To-Potter (or so I wished).

It was 2:00; Harry had gone to bed, so now I could, too. I was seriously crushing. No, it was more than a crush. Second year I was crushing, in fifth I was in love. I tried to cover it up as best I could. I no longer blushed crimson every time he talked to me. I no longer stared at him every second (I occasionally blinked), and I found I could form full sentences when in his presence. After Hermione's handiwork last year, and her way with words, they didn't even expect me of liking him like that anymore. That, I thought, was a big accomplishment.

You see, ever since I first saw Harry Potter on Platform 9¾ on 1 September 1991, I knew he wasn't a normal boy. From that moment onward, I was proud to say that I liked the hero of the wizarding world, Harry Potter. I knew from Ron's first letter that I shouldn't. They were best friends, and nothing would ever work. But I was only ten, a pre-teen, not thinking of anything more then a 'Hi' and a smile. But that would soon be changed. I got to Hogwarts and found he was every bit as cool as my dreams. He was the hero, and when he saved my life at the end of that year, my infatuation was cast in stone.

Embarrassment kicked in the next year. He would never like me now, not after I had so plainly let him endanger his life trying to right my own mistakes. I avoided him and set up a mental block. I would not enter the presence of Harry Potter more than was absolutely necessary. The less chance he had to be mad at me, the better.

In my third year, I realized that despite anything I may try, he just wouldn't leave my head! Everywhere I looked, I saw him. Every time I was alone, I found myself staging conversations with him, imagining his reaction to anything and everything. I tried to get over him. I went out with Michael Corner for a while. He had liked me for awhile, and I thought, _Hey, it's not Harry, but maybe he will take his place…. _ Now, when I look back on it, I say what_ the heck was I thinking? Could just anyone take the place of my true love?_ I scoffed, thinking sarcastically, _Could anyone take the place of Dumbledore?_ I tried to like him, I really did. But it wasn't working out. He wasn't Harry. Two months later, I broke it off. The same thing had happened near the end of the year. Dean Thomas, my brother's _roommate_ for goodness sake, hadn't had the sense and asked me out. I obliged, thinking he, being close to Harry in friendship, might be more my type. But I wasn't counting on Ron's threats. I mean, all my brothers have always been overprotective, but Ron was taking his older-brotherly duties to the insane level of Gryffindor Captains during Quidditch season. We had a mutual break-up a month into the summer holidays.

It was my fifth year now. I was back on Harry, keeping my distance, but always watching. It was probably insanity dawning on me at this point. But I didn't care. He was the object of my affections, and strangely, he hadn't noticed yet.

And when I say he hadn't noticed yet, I don't mean it's just Harry being daft. No, my brother gets that award. It was the entire Hogwarts population, with the slight exception of myself, Jenna, and Hermione. So far, not one of the aforementioned had realized that I wasn't over him yet, which must be a first in Hogwarts history.

I looked on in admiration as my hero stood tall and proud, walking down a long red carpet, love shining in his bright green eyes. "I love you, Ginny Weasley," he was saying, a smile evident on his lips as he looked at me adoringly.

It was a reoccurring dream, and it defiantly qualified as one of my favorites.

Morning came sooner than I wished, and I was forced from my Harry-filled dreams to face reality. "His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad, his hair is as dark as a blackboard, I wish he was mine, he's really divine, the hero who conquered the dark lord." I hummed softly to myself as I showered and dressed, remembering the song that I had made up all those years ago. Four to be exact. One would think that after that long I would have gotten over him. Well, 'one' thought wrong.

It was 8:00, and classes began in an hour. _Just enough time to see Harry at breakfast,_ I thought to myself. I had an entire schedule worked out in order to see Harry as much as possible during the day. Oddly enough, he hadn't noticed yet.

Sure enough, just as I stepped out of the girls' staircase, I saw Harry and Ron stepping out from theirs. "Hi," I said, trying to keep my voice steady and casual.

"Hi," Harry answered. I gave him a small smile. Harry didn't notice, and Ron had turned his back. They went back to their conversation as I pulled ahead by a few feet.

"So, d'you hear about…" Ron was trying not to give much away, in case I was listening. I could tell.

"If you're talking about Fudge, yeah, heard about it in the Prophet yesterday, but if there's something else… "

"Yeah, that's what I mean. But I can't help but wonder what's _really_ going on. They're keeping something from us, I can tell. And with so many deaths lately. Yesterday four people got letters saying their parents died! Sure, they came clean last summer an' all, but they're still keeping plenty quiet."

"Four? I thought it was only three, Federica Renelli, Susan Bones, Danny McLien, and…"

"Molly Oberstar, remember, fourth year Hufflepuff."

"Oh, right."

I forced my thoughts away from their conversation. It was too painful; the world was getting so dark, so evil lately with You-Know-Who rising. My parents were doing everything in their power to help the Order of the Phoenix, a special group devoted to fighting against Voldemort. That's where they were now, running some errand for Dumbledore. I didn't know where or what they were doing. It was too dangerous if anyone knew too much. I just know that it was for Dumbledore. Mum and Dad couldn't tell us too much. They were worried about us enough already since Ron was such good friends with Harry. _Oh well_ I reassured myself, _nothing can happen as long as Dumbledore's around. He's the only one, after all, that You-Know-Who's afraid of_.


	3. ISOE: Ginny Returns

Ginny Returns 

I didn't really know what to do, so I just went down to the great hall and ate breakfast, then followed Harry up to Gryffindor Tower and got ready for Care of Magical Creatures. I couldn't wait, Hagrid was teaching us about unicorns, and today we were going to be able to pet them.

"Jenna! Come on! Hurry up! We're going to be late!" I tried to push her out of bed.

"Just five more minutes…" she murmured, rolling over to face the wall.

"Aaron's going to be there…" I knew this would work.

"Ok! Ok! I'm up! I'm awake!" She jumped out of bed and then noticed what I had done. "_Ginny!_ I'm going to _kill_ you!" With that, we took off running, me strategically leading her to Hagrid's hut.

The morning went by in a wink, as it was my two favorite classes: Care of Magical Creatures and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Lunch came and went, and I was off to Divination. Ron had told me not to take it, but it had seemed interesting… and it was.

"Alright everyone, today we will begin planetary divination. Planetary divination is the art of determining your own future by calculating the positions of the planets during certain times during your life. A common date is their positions during your birth. Once you find them, you then match your results with those in the book." Professor Trelawny turned to Jenna, who happened to be sitting next to me. "Blond hair, eight letters in your name, lighter colored eyes. I feel right in assuming that you were born…" she paused, "on 23rd May." I looked up in amazement.

"Y-y-y-yes," Jenna stuttered, avoiding our teacher's gaze.

"As I suspected." She turned to me. "Red hair, large family, only girl, you were born in late summer, weren't you?"

"No," I said, upset that she had made a mistake, "I was born in February."

"Ah," she said, trying desperately to make up something that would help her, "That is an easy mistake to make, I was instead reading your compatibility calculations, you are destined to be with someone born in late summer. You were born in mid to late winter."

_Oh my god! Oh my god!_ I couldn't control myself, _yes!_ My body was screaming to get up and do a victory dance, _Harry was born late summer, or, you could call it late summer! Yeah,_ and that was the only thing on my mind for the rest of the day. Well, that and my Divination homework, predictions of my life every day for the next five months, due at the start of those particular months.

Jenna looked over at me with a sidelong glance and shook her head, smiling slightly. My face had been set in excitement since Divination.

"You need to give up on him, Gin," she said, not realizing the extent to which she sounded like a hypocrite in that statement.

"I have given up on him!" I skipped slightly, taking advantage of her wording and twisting it to my advantage.

"Ok, rewording that… You need to get over him, Gin! Listen, you seem to think he's some kind of hero or something—"

"Well he is!" I pointed out to her, interrupting what she was about to say next.

"No," she stopped walking, and turned to me, looking me deep in the eye, "he isn't." She was oddly serious, gravity pulling a thick white blanket over our heads, curtaining us off from the world as her face set in determination. "You, of all people, should know that. He now considers you a friend, which is much more than you ever could have hoped before last year. And what's more, he doesn't have many friends. Those he has, he holds on to, which obviously comes from his lack of proper family." Jenna was looking further into the situation then she ever would normally. I listened. "The entire world treats him as a hero, and we both know he hates it! He depends on his friends to treat him like any other person. It's ok for you to like him, but it's not ok for you to like him because he's a hero. He's just a normal person, and you, of all people, should realize that." Jenna took a deep breath, looked deep into my eyes one last time, and turned, walking away slowly.

I sighed, Jenna's words beginning to sink in. But as soon as I realized this, I quickly brushed off everything she had just said to me. Under any other circumstance, with any other subject, her words probably would have taken root and repeated themselves thousands of times. But I was determined that she was wrong now. Harry Potter wasn't a normal person. He was a hero, the Boy Who Lived. He was sixteen years old and had defeated some form of You-Know-Who or the Death Eaters five times. No normal guy had that kind of résumé.

The day passed in silence, Jenna and I both pretending the conversation had never happened, our friendship returning to its normal level forever after. We joked around until bedtime, not touching back to the subject of that day ever again.

"Good morning, Jenna! Isn't it a lovely day?" I sprang out of bed and got dressed in the blink of an eye. She muttered something that I couldn't make out, but reluctantly rolled out of bed anyway. "What was that?"

"Ugh, nothing." She seemed annoyed.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." So she said, but her tone contradicted her, it stayed the same as before.

Jenna reluctantly dressed, and followed me down to the Great Hall.

As I sat there staring at the one and only Harry Potter, the mail came in, but I wasn't disrupted by it. The mail came every morning, and it came this morning, same as always. Soon, however, I was disrupted by it. Just as I put a fork load of pancake into my mouth, a strange owl dropped a letter in front of me. Curious, I opened it up.

_Ms. Ginny Weasley,_

_We regret to inform you that Mr. Arthur Weasley and Mrs. Molly Weasley have died unmercifully at the hands of You-Know-Who. We have been informed that you have five brothers who have already become of age here in the wizarding world. If they permit, you may continue staying at the family home under their control. Any questions may be directed to,_

_Mr. Reineki-Lyth, _

_Department of Family and Domestic Issues_

I looked around the table; the information was there, I saw it with my own eyes, but it didn't sink in. Then I saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Ron had a letter just like mine. But he realized what was going on. He paled and almost fainted. He sat there for a minute, steadying himself. Then he took off running, running, running, running right out of the great hall and up the marble staircase. Harry and Hermione didn't wait; they took off after him, _such a good friend to everyone,_ I thought, referring to Harry.

"What's wrong with Ron? What's the letter about?" Jenna asked, snapping me out of my little daydream.

"Oh, nothing really, just a small family problem," I answered easily.

"Small family problem? Ginny, Ron isn't exactly the most sentimental guy! In fact, he's the most insensitive guy, or person for that matter. Well, anyway, he's the most insensitive guy in the world! Well, except perhaps You-Know-Who, but well, that's beside the point. Well, anyway, you know what I mean! It would take something really big to make _your brother_ tear up, and if it's a family problem…" she stopped, looked sternly at me, searing into me with hard, cold eyes. "Ginny, _newsflash!_ You're in his family, whatever is wrong with him is the same thing wrong with you! You need to take a reality check, take control over your mind! What's in that letter?" She grabbed it from the table in front of me, ignoring the fact that I was ignoring her. She scanned it, the face of Jennifer Moliby gradually gaining more and more amounts of disgust as she went along. "_Ginny Weasley! _Get over here!" She grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the hall, and by now everyone was staring. She pulled me roughly out of the hall and into the hallway. Up the stairs and into Moaning Myrtles bathroom. _Oh, great!_ I thought, _the entrance of the place where Harry fought for my life,_ but this turned out to not matter in the end.

"Ginny! Listen to yourself! Your parents just died, the world is living _heck_ right now due to the rising of the darkest wizard of all time, who I might add was controlling you by using a diary of his sixteen year old self to seduce you no more than a few years ago, and no matter how hard the Ministry and Dumbledore try, there's no stopping him. And right now all you care about is _Harry Potter_! Ginny, snap out of it and check into Reality Hotel!"

"You don't know!" I shrieked, not knowing what I was saying, "You have no clue what it's like!"

"No clue what it's like? No clue what _what's_ like? No clue what it's like to be obsessed with a guy? I think you're forgetting Aaron!"

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean…" I trailed off, unable to think.

"Ginny! I like Aaron as much as you like Harry. The difference is that I know how to control myself every once in awhile. Ginny, you're over the top! You put the thermometer in a place where the temperatures were too high! It was bubbling and bubbling, bubbling for so long, and it finally blew the top. Get control of yourself!" She stopped her yelling for a moment and looked at me, staring straight into my eyes, her cold, dark ones into my warm, 'easily seducible' ones. This was different; her usually bright, cheery self had changed, maybe for better, maybe for worse. But that wasn't the point, the point was, she was right. I had gone over the top. And that had to change.

"Ron? Ron? Where are you!?" I had to find my brother; there was nobody else I could talk to about this. Charlie and Bill were off somewhere, most likely back at work. They were planning on going back a few weeks ago. And Fred and George were busy with their shop in Diagon Alley, which was doing quite well. No, he was the only one.

"Ron's up in our dormitory. He keeps telling me to leave, so why don't you try him. I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Someone was talking from behind me. I whirled around; I knew that voice…

"Harry!" _No!_ I told myself firmly, _you're not going to do this! Keep cool!_ "Uh, thanks, I'll do that." I accomplished it; I don't _have_ to be overly obsessed with Harry. Jenna's little talk had worked. "Ron?" I stepped inside the fifth year boys' dormitory. "Ron? Are you ok?"

"What do you think?"

"I think that you need to talk to someone."

"Don't tell me what to do! You don't know what this is like!"

"Yes I do," I said quietly, slowly, patiently.

"No you…" He turned around. "Ginny?"

"Yes, that is my name, it has been for the past fifteen years, and I'm planning on it remaining my name for several years to come." I remained standing where I was.

"Wha- you're not supposed to be here," he replied.

"Is anyone stopping me?" I kept my tone even, steady, trying to keep from tearing up. I felt my throat closing. Ron reminded me of what was happening, what had happened.

"No." He would have grinned, but he couldn't. I walked over, and sat down beside my brother. He wrapped his arms around me in a brotherly hug.

We sat there, silently, for several minutes. Shrieks and laughter, the low rumble of people talking arose from the common room in the background. But that didn't matter; the world inside our heads was big enough for the moment.

"How could they do this?" Ron finally broke the silence.

Do what? I wanted to say, but I knew what he meant. "Ron, either shut up or stop talking about Mum and Dad like it was their fault. They died helping the Order. At least something was accomplished in the meantime."

"What!?" He seemed angry. "Our parents died, and you think it's _ok_ that this happened because they were helping the Order?"

"No, but it provides some consolation," I said, my voice dangerously low and serious. Sitting down, I knew I looked a mess, gravity overtaking the situation. But not a single person knew or cared. As the room was silent, life went on elsewhere.

"I can't believe this. It didn't happen to me. This is all a nightmare. In a few minutes I'm going to wake up in my bed at Hogwarts, Neville will still be asleep, snoring until someone gets him up. Harry will be rolling over across his bed, Dean will be looking at that Muggle poster thing of his, and Seamus will be up and gone, already in the hall eating breakfast. This isn't real. This isn't happening." Ron rocked slowly on the bed, looking as though he was insane, though I knew he wasn't.

"No, it's true." I had to make him stop withdrawing; it was, as I had done, his version of withdrawal. I knew if I had let him continue he would have ignored everyone completely. I stopped it early. "That's what everyone wants to think. 'It happens to everyone else, your friend's aunt, and your cousin's cousin, not related to you in any reasonable terms. Your dad's co-worker, the girl next door's grandma.' That's what everyone wants to think. But it's not true. Now it has happened to you, and nothing can change that. I'm not saying to ignore it completely, that's what Fred and George are surely doing back at home. But don't ignore everyone. Come on, Ron, come play a game of chess with Ha…"

"No!" he practically screamed, still rocking. It was beginning to scare me. "No! You go on, leave me alone!" He was screaming. Something was wrong; this wasn't the Ron I knew.

"Ron! Come on! What's wrong?"

"Nothing! I'm fine! Just go!" He wasn't fine, and I wasn't leaving.

"I'm not leaving."

"I said leave me alone!"

"And I heard you, but I'm not leaving." He continued rocking.

We sat there for several more minutes; I knew Harry and Hermione would be waiting downstairs, wanting desperately to know what was going on, yet having the sense to remain in the common room. I also knew that waiting here, with Ron, was not only where I _wanted_ to be, but it was where I _needed_ to be.

Days passed, and gradually Ron turned around. Sure he wasn't cheerful, ever, but he did control himself. And he did make an improvement. Quidditch seemed to help. During practice he seemed most happy, most like his old self. Speaking of the Quidditch team, our first game was this Saturday, and we had practice in an hour

"C'mon, Jenna, Quidditch practice soon. We'd better go change." I grabbed the new broom Fred and George had bought me for my birthday and raced to change into my Quidditch robes. She lazily followed me, muttering about how Harry shouldn't have scheduled practice that early in the evening. Her argument being that she was still tired from the school day. "Oh don't be such a whiner! We're scrimmaging today, remember? To prepare for Saturday."

"Oh yeah!" After that she seemed to perk up a bit, but was still groaning.

"Ellie!" I called at my fellow Chaser to indicate that I was open for a pass. I caught the ball and raced for the hoops. Raising my arm to hurl it through the left hoop, I let go of my broom in order to create more force, though I soon realized the mistake. Just as the ball left my hand, I felt something hard connect with my side. _Crack_. It felt like something broke, something like my back. Off-balance, due to the fact that neither of my hands were on the broom, the Bludger made much more of an impact than it normally would have. I was falling, free-falling through the air, more than fifty feet above the ground, and I knew what was waiting under those fifty feet of empty space.

"Ginny!" Ron had stopped the Quaffle before he realized what had happened to me. But there wasn't anything he could do. All of our wands were down in the locker rooms. I braced myself for the crash that was promising to break my neck and kill me. I winced, waiting for the jolt of impact to come. _Crack_. I hit the slightly muddy ground with back down. My first impression was that I had fallen into a fire pit and I was burning to death slowly. My second impression was of a dark black room, probably because I had slipped into unconsciousness. Well, maybe slipped is an understatement. Okay, I had '_dramatically and dangerously fallen from a broomstick which was flying fifty feet in the air, and hit the ground at approximately forty miles per hour, sent myself into an unconscious state._'

"We are still unsure of her condition…" I heard a voice that I didn't recognize, but I didn't have the strength to open my eyes and see who it was. "Yes, I know she has been in emergency care for over three weeks…" There was a pause and then, "Sir, we have tried that, it's not broken. What? Oh, well, I suppose it's for the best." The voice was coming from somewhere in front of me. I finally managed to open my eyes. The first thing I saw was a flash of bright white, and then a face that I didn't recognize. "Ah, Ms. Weasley, I see you're awake now. That's all for the better I suppose."

"Wh-" I tried to speak. "Where am I?"

"St. Mungo's, intensive care department of the Artifact Accidents wing, ground floor."

"Huh? St. Mungo's? What am I doing here?"

"Well, you fell off your broomstick. It was quite high too, fifty feet from what your friends told me. Most thought you'd died," he said calmly.

"Where are they, where is everybody?"

"Well, they were here, but they left awhile ago. I suppose they'll be back in a bit though, as I'm going to tell everyone you finally woke up."

"_Finally_ woke up? What do you mean? How long have I been asleep?"

"Well, I'd have to say you were unconscious for a good three weeks."


	4. ISOE: Depression In The Face of Evil

Friendship 

Ginny lay down on her bed the moment she got into her dorm and stayed there, eyes closed. She had a throbbing headache, and she was getting shaky, no doubt from low blood sugar. She lay there for hours, not even getting up for Charms, not getting up for dinner. At around seven, the time the Great Hall usually started clearing out, the door opened revealing Jenna.

"Ginny…" she started to say something, but stopped. She had seen Ginny lying there, and she had kept her eyes closed, and, keeping her breathing steady, had managed to convince her that she was asleep. Upon the sight of Ginny's 'asleep' figure, Jenna sighed and walked out, most likely to do her homework.

Ginny blinked in the sunlight. "Oh, someone turn off the sun." She groaned, rolling over. As she rolled over, she also fell off her bed. "Ow!" she exclaimed; her already aching head had hit the dresser as she fell the few feet to the ground. She had fallen asleep in her robes last night, pretending to be asleep had actually lulled her to sleep. Sitting up, Ginny looked around to see her roommates still asleep. A glance at the clock told Ginny it was 6:30, they would be up soon anyway. She got up and made her way to the bathroom to take a shower before breakfast, for Ginny knew she needed one to wake herself up.

This morning she didn't even bother going to the hall, she was too tired to be bothered by being hungry. So, instead she went out to the lake again. It provided some condolence to think that even when the world was breaking apart, being shattered before their very eyes, the lake was still there, gentle waves lapping the shore evenly. Even if the Ministry _was_ gone, destroyed by the hate that had encompassed the world, the giant squid would still be there, lulling in the sunlight.

Ginny leaned back against the tree's rough bark, breathing in the sunlight, and the spring-like freshness, that technically shouldn't have been there for another four months. As she let the sunlight wash over her, filling her up in a way that no food ever could, Ginny suddenly had an urge to get up and run around. Instead, she consoled herself with climbing the tree she had been leaning against only moments ago. As she sat there, in the upper branches, concealed with a beauty only nature could bring, she looked out over the lake at the rising sun. Ginny suddenly saw the impossible; it was her Mum and Dad, standing over the water. Blinking, thinking that it must be a trick of light or something, Ginny watched as they glided over to the waters edge. They started talking, fear encircling her so much that she wouldn't have been able to reply, even if she had wanted to. Ginny listened, absorbing the sound of their voices as a sponge absorbs water. She listened as her dead parents talked to her. They were kind of scaring Ginny, to be truthful. It was the faces of Molly and Arthur Weasley, yes, but even though they were smiling, a glowing radiance glowing from them as seen when someone is truly happy, they didn't sound happy. They sounded worried. As Ginny listened more to their words, what had only seemed like voices before became clear. They were scared. Scared for Ginny, scared for Ron, scared for Fred and George, scared for the whole family. Scared for Hogwarts, for London, for the world. Almost as fast as they had come, they disappeared. And Ginny was filled with an understanding that hadn't been there before.

_My parents didn't die to leave us in sorrow, they died hero's, they died saving us from the evil so we could live life to it's fullest, without the heavy weight of worry that they had had to deal with during their generation. They hadn't saved us by doing what they had done so we could live life, fighting for life. They had saved us for happiness. For life. For living life to it's fullest._ It was then, in that tree, on that bright, sunny, early November morning that Ginny made a decision. Remembering what she had once decided, on a day so recent, yet so far in the past, a decision that she had forgotten in the unhappiness. Ginny re-decided that she would do whatever it took to remove this evil from the earth. She would live up to my parents, and exceed them, as well as exceed everyone else. _I will show them, Virginia Weasley was not one you want to mess with when it comes down to something I want to do._

Ginny more or less sleepwalked through the rest of the day, her mind elsewhere, more specifically; her mind was in the alternate universe of plan making. Ginny was determined to do something, and she was determined to succeed. She went to lunch, and ate normally, or rather, ate ravenously as she had as good as missed every meal over the past day and a half. After lunch, she headed straight to the library, a few things had to be researched if she were to execute her plan without any interruptions in a possibly smoothly flowing process. That night she met Jenna in the common room. Before she had a chance to say anything, Ginny interrupted her.

"Wow! It's surprising how homework just creeps up on you like that isn't it? We'd better get to work if we're going to finish both those essay's!" Ginny was referring to the History of Magic essay, as well as the Herbology one.

"Uh, ok then…" She could tell Jenna had wanted to talk to her about something (three guesses what) and was glad that she had sidetracked her. For Ginny was in the process of figuring everything out herself first. She doubted she'd ever tell Jenna everything about the past few weeks. True, they were best friends, and had been for a long time. But there were things that couldn't be told, even to a best friend.

"'_The Three Main Goblin-Vampire Battles of the Fourteenth Century and how they Changed History'_" Ginny titled her paper. "And those would be…?"

"Weren't you listening in class today!?!" Jenna exclaimed (as if she did)

"NO!"

"Well you should have been! I'm not telling you anything!" and with that she began scribbling ferociously on her parchment.

"Why not? We're best friends! It's your job to tell me when I don't know!"

"Well, see, that's where we reach the problem, 'cause I wasn't listening either"

"Well what are you writing then?"

"You really want to know?" Jenna taunted.

"YES!" Ginny exclaimed so exuberantly that she almost fell off the comfy in-front-of-the-fire-chair she had been sitting on.

"OK" Jenna reached over the table between them, and unrolled the paper, showing her a long strip of about 3 feet of parchment, all covered in the words 'I love Aaron', not a centimeter showing. And that was when the two girls burst out laughing.

Four hours later, homework done, Ginny lay back on the couch, her mind busily running over her plans of action. She would have to do it soon, but how soon was to be debated. She'd need some time, so preferably a Friday… 'Cause she might be out late, and school would be hard without much sleep. She didn't want anyone finding out what she was doing. She also had to try and find out when she COULD do it. Even if she wasn't sure of plans, she had to be sure of this. If her timing faltered, she might as well throw her plans out the window. Ginny closed her eyes; hopefully there would be an opening Friday in which she could get her plan executed. 'Oh well' she thought. 'I'll just have to watch their behavior very carefully; maybe if I'm observant enough I can pick something up. And with that, she fell asleep, right there, laying across the couch in the common room.

Wednesday and Thursday passed rather quickly. Ginny spent the time enjoying herself, keeping her eyes open for a sign, any sign, that her plan could be put into action. But she wasn't really expecting to have to for another week or two. So she didn't plan much more. Leaving the emergency situations for later. Thursday night came, and Ginny was lying in bed, waiting for sleep to come and claim her. It was just about midnight, when she finally fell asleep…

"_Wormtail, come here" a hard cold voice echoed across the dark clearing._

"_Y-y-y-yes master" the man, whoever he was, was stuttering._

"_Extend your arm" the rapidly paling man rolled up his right sleeve, and moved so that his upper forearm, which was revealing the shape Ginny had only heard about, the dark mark. The cloaked person, no doubtably Voldemort, touched it, pressing his index finger to the grotesque branding. Instantly, Ginny heard several popping noises, people apparating to the clearing. And then she woke up… _

She had to do it now, she couldn't wait until tomorrow, Friday, there was no other way she could be sure that she would get there. Her adventurous side, the side that had made her try out for quiddich, the side that she treasured, the side that was brave. Told her to go right now, just throw on some robes and go. But something told her no; something told her she hadn't planned enough. What if she was seen? What if she found herself in a place with no tree's to hide behind? She hadn't worked out the details. She didn't want to go, she wasn't ready. But who knew if she would get a dream like that again, who knew if she'd have another chance. Ginny stumbled across the dark room, grabbed her cloak and broom, and set off. Through the common room, out the portrait hole, and down the hall she walked, she was going to do it. After only one day of real planning, and no emergency situation planning done, she was going out to change the world. Opening the huge doors that led onto the grounds, Ginny mounted her broom, kicked off into the crisp night air, and flew into the deep night.

Ginny had absolutely no clue where she was headed, but the dream had looked like somewhere in the Forbidden Forest, so she was planning on just flying around above it for awhile.

10 minutes past, then 20, just as her watch turned to _'2:34 AM, go back to bed'_ she heard the sound of someone screaming. The sudden volume was so unexpected; Ginny nearly fell off her broom… again. But managed to regain her balance as she looked down at the massive sea of black cloaks. She was still over the forbidden forest, but there was a clearing. In the center of the group was one man, elevated slightly above the rest. There was, perhaps, a 10-foot radius around him before the mass of people began. Directly in front of the leader, Voldemort, there was another person writhing on the ground. 'The effects of the Crucatous Curse' she thought grimly. Turning her broom around she gradually descended to tree level, and carefully maneuvered around the treetops, bushes, and just general bramble so as to make as little noise as possible.

"You have greatly disappointed me, letting him slip through our grasp like that!" a deep, dark, cold voice rung through Ginny's ears, scaring her to shreds. But it was too late to change her mind. There was no return, no turning back, she had come this far. She could finish the job. Creeping through the underbrush she tried to remain hidden as long as possible. Thinking through what she was planning to do, Ginny left her broom where she had landed, and managed to reach the edge of the woods, only a rotting log and a few weeds separating her from the Death Eaters and their leader. Raising her wand, she took a deep breath. But just before she said the spell she realized something. The screaming had stopped, as had the cold voice. There wasn't a sound in earshot, he ears which were only moments ago ringing in screams, now were ringing in silence. Not lowering her wand, Ginny let out a breath, the only sound in the darkness. Until she heard it, it all happened so fast. A twig snapped, and all of a sudden the scene sprung into a new life. Like a phoenix, the scene that was once so lively had died, and a new one was reborn from the ashes. A dark cloak passed before her eyes, and something covered her head. Smelling something, some poison or something, all Ginny saw was a flash of the sky, a sliver of moon, the new moon had been yesterday, the sliver of moon was all she saw before the youngest Weasley was thrust into unconsciousness.

_A younger Ginny, an 11-year-old Ginny was standing in front of a wall, water flooding the corridor, soaking her feet up to her ankles. A can of red paint hung from her arm as she slowly wrote the threatening message on the wall…_

Ginny awoke suddenly. She didn't know how long she had been unconscious, nor where she was. But she did know she didn't like it there. Since she had arrived here in this, cell-like dungeon she had been having nightmares of her first year at Hogwarts, as well as the past few weeks. There was a constant cold feeling, and the drafty cell didn't help. There was at least an inch of frost on the barred window that existed in the upper corner of her cold prison, but never had she had the strength to go look out of it. All she had the strength for was to lie on the cold floor. Looking around for the first time she noticed a straw pallet below the window, on an incredibly rusty metal bed. Half-crawling over to it she reached it and winced as the creaking spring sunk, echoing in the empty halls beyond the thick wooden door. Looking at the door (Ginny guessed it must be a foot thick) she noticed a small, wormy-looking apple, and a moldy piece of bread, along with a cup of extremely dirty water. Rolling off the mattress, she did her best to retrace her steps and get back to the door. Finally she made it, and reached out to take a drink of the water. As it passed by her parched lips just the smell made Ginny want to throw up, but she controlled herself, and forced it down. No matter how horrible it tasted, it was water. And it would keep her alive.

After she ate Ginny returned to her 'bed' and tried to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. With horrible memories flooding her mind, and being unable to properly grasp any consciously acceptable thought, Ginny Weasley drifted into an uneasy sleep.

Day after day passed this way, or what she figured was day after day anyways. She never did have the strength to look out the window, with the sun not able to penetrate the frost it probably wouldn't have made a difference anyways, but she may find some way to figure how long she had been there. She suspected they didn't bring food every day, as they had only brought it 5 times and it she seemed to be there for months. Sleeping whenever she could, and making her food last as long as possible so as to pass time more quickly, Ginny gradually forgot about her life beyond the walls. She remembered her first day in the cell, she remembered the immense cold feeling the dementors generated when she brought her the food every once in awhile, she remembered their scabbed hands slowly emerging from their cloak sleeves, she remembered her first glimpse of the hallway. As she had watched the creatures bring her food not too long after she had awoken, she saw another door. When they had been leaving, as she woke from that uneasy sleep that was constantly haunting her, she had looked out the door when it opened, and she saw a hallway, which, unlike her cell, was surprisingly clean. In fact, it brought back her first fleeting memories of Hogwarts; the stone flagged hallways reminded her of the torch-lit ones leading to Snape's dungeons. Across the hall she had one glimpse, a fleeting glimpse before the door had been shut, binding her into the living heck that she was imprisoned in. Across the hall was another door. And that door gave her hope. As the dementors opened that door, there was another figure huddled on the floor inside of it, and she recognized that figure.

That figure had filled her thoughts for the next who-knew-how-many days. She knew that person, she knew that figure, but who's it was she couldn't figure out. It was familiar, strangely familiar, but not enough so for her to realize the person it belonged to. She hadn't seen this person recently; she had seen them a few times at number 12, Grimmauld Place, and plenty of times at Hogwarts, but now she just couldn't tell who it was. The mysterious figure was as foreign to her as Percy had been over the past year and a half. And she had no hope of memory to help out. For her memory wasn't any more helpful than Glderoy Lockhart's would have been, and for those who don't know, that's saying a lot.

Thoughts rumbling across the unexplored plains of unknown and uncrossed territory, Ginny tried to focus, but found she couldn't as every time she tried to reach a conclusion, or grasp something, the dementors effects would reach their worst and thrust her into unconsciousness, dreaming about her first year at Hogwarts, her nightmares full of the images of herself writing messaged on the walls in red paint, or strangling the school chickens. Of course, she knew that this all had a happy ending, with Harry coming to save her. But those memories were snatched away from her as she reached them, instead showing her what could have happened. Showing her images of her body, lying lifeless on the hard, cold, damp, stone floor of the chamber, Harry's dead body lying next to her own. She saw he mother weeping over her, she even saw what would have been her funeral. Despite all attempts to convince herself that it wasn't real, that wasn't what happened. She couldn't help but start whaling in despair.

She was snatched from her horrifying memories, or, nightmares I guess, by the seemingly deafening noise of a creaking door, opened by the creatures of her nightmares origin, literally. Opening her eyes just enough to see them set her food on the floor and exit she sighed. There was no hope for escape; she would remain in this horrid prison for the rest of her life, never again seeing daylight. Living a half-life. She might survive to be 20, if she was lucky, but as far as she knew, her life ended at 15. Or as much that mattered anyways. Never again would she see a sunset over the lake, never again would she fly, wind blowing her hair all over the place. Never again would she watch Harry and Ron play chess, ignoring all homework that had to be done. Just for the pure pleasure of it all. That was when she realized; this was the first time since her arrival that she had been able to think clearly. Always her thoughts were accompanied by a slight hum, like slightly out of tune radio, that annoying fuzz in the background, all of a sudden gaining force as she began to think about something amusing, or happy. She could think clearly. Ginny was overcome with a feeling of such intense joy that she wanted to shout out loud. Instead, she consoled herself with simply looking out the window that she had avoided for the past… well, since she got there. Peering through the bars she saw the reason why she could think clearly. There was a huge, stone stadium. Draped in green and silver, much like the great hall would have been if Slytherin won the house cup. In the center, on a raised platform stood the man of all wrongdoing, Voldemort. Surrounding him, filling the stands, were hundreds of black-cloaked death eaters. Many, many more then had been at that first meeting. One entire side of the stands was filled with dementors. Apparently they were having some grand meeting where they all gathered together, for there wasn't a single empty space. Above the gathering shone the full moon, informing her that she had been in Azkaban for about 3 weeks, maybe more, maybe less, astronomy wasn't ever her best subject. And even if it had been, it certainly wasn't now. Turning her attention back to the get-together Ginny realized that she couldn't hear what Voldemort was saying, therefore not seeing the point in watching any more. Stepping off her bed, which she had been standing on in order to see out the window, she decided to eat. Now, although she could think clearly, and was more aware of her surroundings, she was also more aware of her hunger, and her thirst. That was when she realized; they hadn't given her the murky brown water that usually accompanied the meal. As if in answer to her thoughts, the door opened again, just slightly, and a dementor was there, setting a cup of murky brown water on the floor. Ginny was able to keep thinking clearly as there was only one of them, as well as the fact that in her time there had lessened their affect on her. Without making it a conscious decision, not thinking about the consequences, Ginny lunged forward just before the door shut. She was in the hallway, and the dementor hadn't noticed.

Ginny shrunk back into the shadows waiting for the dementor to leave the hall. Not that this was necessary, for she knew dementors were blind, well, not blind exactly, but she knew they had no eyes. Her heart was skipping beats as the dementor turned the corner. Sighing in relief she couldn't help but think'_Great, I finally manage to escape, and I have no clue where I am, or where to go, and I don't have a wand._' not seeing any other choice Ginny crept slowly after the dementor. She had to get to wherever they kept the wands of the imprisoned peoples, more likely they just snapped em, but she could still use the pieces, or steal a death eaters' wand. As she rounded the corner she was already feeling faint from lack of food or water, and found herself in another corridor, exactly like the one she had just exited, and the dementor was nowhere in sight.

Stumbling down the hallways, Ginny paid no attention to where she was going. Thinking that she would want to get as far to one side as possible, that way, she might at least find a window or something that she could go out through. The one in her cell was no good, not only was it several stories up, it looked out towards the center of the island, and she couldn't get to it anyway, she was now locked OUT of her cell. Looking straight down the current hall, Ginny saw a dream come true, at the end of the hall was an archway, several stairs leading down from it, and a balcony. Hobbling much faster then before, Ginny made her way to the archway. There turned out to be only a few stairs, but it was hope. Leaning heavily on the railway, Ginny reached the bottom of them, and went out onto the small area following. As she did this she realized, this didn't lead to a window, it led to a balcony.

Her heart nearly stopped as she saw she was not standing directly above the meeting, looking out at every single death eater, every dementor, and every evil beast, all in plain view. In the center of them all, stood the leader, Tom Marovelo Riddle, He-who-must-not-be-named, You-know-who, Voldemort. He was still talking, lecturing his followers. Now she could hear what he was saying, but chose not to listen. It wouldn't help her at all; she needed to find a way out. This would have worked, she could have climbed or jumped off the balcony, it wasn't too high. And there was ivy leaves climbing the sides of the building that would work for climbing perfectly. The only problem was this, it was an island. And Ginny wasn't the best swimmer in the world.

She needed a wand, and there was only one place where she could get one. Taking a deep breath, bracing herself for what came next, Ginny found strength that she didn't know she had as she swung her leg over the stone barrier around the edge of the balcony. Edging around it carefully, she reached the wall without being seen. Trying to make as little noise as possible, Ginny was relieved that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wasn't facing her. Creeping down the ivy Ginny put her strength from quiddich to good use holding herself steady. The last thing she needed was to fall; it would be like signing her own death warrant.

Ginny half-wanted to jump the last few feet, but it was an unnecessary risk, the death eaters would surely notice, as they were less then 10 feet away. She forced herself to climb the last few feet, and although it wasn't a hard feat, she breathed a sigh of relief when her feet were firmly on the ground again.

Ginny was now out of the prison, and would have been free, if it weren't for 3 things, she still didn't have a wand, and she still had no clue where she was (did anyone?) and the death eaters were terrifyingly close. She really saw only one choice, follow the wall. Setting out along the wall, it didn't take long to find what she was looking for. A heavy, metal gate that was at least 10 feet high. Through it she saw the cold, hard sea, crashing menacingly against the rock island on which the prison was situated. Before Ginny looked for locks though, she saw something, in the middle of the meeting, right near the leader, were piles and piles of wands. No doubtably the death eaters own. Smart precaution, that way if any of his ranks was a spy, they couldn't betray him and help them take over Azkaban or something. But then she noticed something herself by now she was behind the rows of dementors, black cloak upon black cloak, hovering slightly above the ground. Or so it looked, the cloaks didn't quite reach the ground, and no feet were visible beneath them, so Ginny simply assumed that they were hovering. But what she noticed, was a bit of brown amidst all the black, one of the dementors had a wand in it's pocked. What a dementor would be doing with a wand, she didn't know, but she knew it was a wand, she could tell. And from how it looked, it was the only chance she'd have at getting one. Not wanting to waste her chance, Ginny crept up behind them, under the bleacher-like stands, approaching the dementor cautiously. But just as she reached him, a commotion aroused. At first Ginny thought she had been heard. But what had happened was just as bad. The meeting was over, and people were leaving, she could, and most likely would, be discovered.

Ginny was so scared out of her wits that she couldn't think of what to do. But her instincts from sneaking around Hogwarts took over; she shrunk back into the shadows, waiting fro the death eaters, dementors, and other evil beings to pass. Finally they were gone, or so she thoughts. Ginny sighed and stepped out, then the cold voice echoed through the shadows again.

"No! You must find her! I don't care if she's only 15, no, now! Every guard should be looking! She can't get off the island, there's only so far she can go!" Ginny paled, even more so then she had so far, and tried to get back before they rounded the corner. But she wasn't quick enough. Around the corner came a dementor, the dementor with the wand to be specific. It glided over to her at a remarkable fast pace. Ginny braced herself. She couldn't run, not only was there nobody to run to, it was going faster then she could already. Instead she just braced herself for the worst, and decided she would simply do her best to keep it away, and her mouth shut. As it approached, Ginny remained unaffected, all the time around dementors over the past few weeks had reduced the effect of only one. With some effort, all she felt was slightly cold when they were around her. The black cloak swept barely above the ground as it reached its prey, Ginny. Trying to do everything and anything that might keep it away from her, Ginny began to kick, punch, flail her arms, anything that might keep it away from her. But alas, there was only so much she could do without a wand. There was no doubt that the rest of the dementors would be arriving any second. She felt increasingly cold as the dementor knocked her over, leaned over her. She could hardly breath as the disgusting smell of rotting eggs filled the air. Clenching her jaws tightly together (Ginny was determined to keep her soul) she tried not to gasp in surprise as the dementor lowered its hood to reveal what might have somewhat resembled a human face, if a human face were scabbed over and eye-less and nose-less, with no hair, actually. It was basically a feature-less head with a dark, round hole where the mouth might have been. That was when she knew it was happening, cold swept throughout her body and she felt a piercing pain near her mouth. Not daring to open her eyes, she felt the inner cold running through her bloodstream, searing pain near her heart. Just as she was sure her life was over…


	5. ISOE: And So She Gave Up

And So She Gave Up 

Ginny lay down on her bed the moment she got into her dormitory and stayed there, eyes closed. She had a throbbing headache, and she was getting shaky, no doubt from low blood sugar. She lay there for hours, not getting up for Charms, not getting up for dinner even. At around seven, the time the Great Hall usually started clearing out, the door opened revealing Jenna.

"Ginny…" She started to say something, but stopped. She had seen Ginny lying there, and by keeping her eyes closed and breathing steady, Ginny had managed to convince Jenna that she was asleep. Upon the sight of Ginny's 'sleeping' figure, Jenna sighed and walked out to do her homework.

Ginny blinked in the sunlight. "Oh, someone turn off the sun." She groaned, rolling over. As she rolled over, she also fell off her bed. "Ow!" she exclaimed; her already aching head had hit the dresser as she fell the few feet to the ground. She had fallen asleep in her robes last night; pretending to be asleep had actually lulled her to sleep. Sitting up, Ginny looked around to see her roommates still asleep. A glance at the clock told Ginny it was 6:30, which meant that they would be up soon anyway. She got up and made her way to the bathroom to take a shower before breakfast, for Ginny knew she needed one to wake herself up.

This morning she didn't even bother going to the hall; she was too tired to be bothered by being hungry. So, instead she went out to the lake again. It provided some condolence to think that even when the world was breaking apart, being shattered before their very eyes, the lake was still there, gentle waves lapping the shore evenly. Even if the Ministry _was_ gone, destroyed by the hate that had encompassed the world, the giant squid would still be there, lulling in the sunlight.

Ginny leaned back against the tree's rough bark, breathing in the sunlight and the spring-like freshness that technically shouldn't have been there for another four months. As she let the sunlight wash over her, filling her up in a way that no food ever could, Ginny suddenly had an urge to get up and run around. Instead, she consoled herself with climbing the tree she had been leaning against only moments ago. As she sat there, in the upper branches, concealed with a beauty only nature could bring, she looked out over the lake at the rising sun. Ginny suddenly saw the impossible; it was her Mum and Dad, standing over the water. Blinking, thinking that it must be a trick of light or something, Ginny watched as they glided over to the water's edge. They started talking, fear encircling her so much that she wouldn't have been able to reply even if she had wanted to.

Ginny listened, absorbing the sound of their voices as a sponge absorbs water. She listened as her dead parents talked to her. They were kind of scaring Ginny, to be truthful. It was the faces of Molly and Arthur Weasley, yes, but even though they were smiling, a glowing radiance glowing from them as seen when someone is truly happy, they didn't sound happy. They sounded worried. As Ginny listened more to their words, what had only seemed like voices before became clear. They were scared. Scared for Ginny, scared for Ron, scared for Fred and George, scared for the whole family. Scared for Hogwarts, for London, for the world. Almost as fast as they had come, they disappeared. And Ginny was filled with an understanding that hadn't been there before.

_My parents didn't die to leave us in sorrow; they died heroes, they died saving us from the evil so we could live life to it's fullest, without the heavy weight of worry that they had had to deal with during their generation. They hadn't saved us by doing what they had done so we could live life, fighting for life. They had saved us for happiness. For life. For living life to its fullest._ It was then, in that tree, on that bright, sunny, early November morning that Ginny made a decision. Remembering what she had once decided, on a day so recent, yet so far in the past, a decision that she had forgotten in the unhappiness, Ginny re-decided that she would do whatever it took to remove this evil from the earth. She would live up to her parents, and exceed them, as well as exceed everyone else. _I will show them Virginia Weasley was not one you want to mess with when it comes down to something I want to do._

Ginny more or less sleepwalked through the rest of the day, her mind elsewhere. More specifically, her mind was in the alternate universe of plan making. Ginny was determined to do something, and she was determined to succeed. She went to lunch and ate normally, or rather, ate ravenously as she had as good as missed every meal over the past day and a half. After lunch, she headed straight to the library. A few things had to be researched if she were to execute her plan without any interruptions in a possibly smoothly flowing process. That night she met Jenna in the common room. Before she had a chance to say anything, Ginny interrupted her.

"Wow! It's surprising how homework just creeps up on you like that isn't it? We'd better get to work if we're going to finish both those essays!" Ginny was referring to the History of Magic essay as well as the Herbology one.

"Uh, ok then…" She could tell Jenna had wanted to talk to her about something (three guesses what) and was glad that she had sidetracked her. Ginny was in the process of figuring everything out herself first. She doubted she'd ever tell Jenna everything about the past few weeks. True, they were best friends, and had been for a long time, but there were things that couldn't be told, even to a best friend.

"The Three Main Goblin-Vampire Battles of the Fourteenth Century and How They Changed History," Ginny titled her paper. "And those would be…?"

"Weren't you listening in class today!?" Jenna exclaimed (as if she had).

"NO!"

"Well you should have been! I'm not telling you anything!" With that she began scribbling ferociously on her own parchment.

"Why not? We're best friends! It's your job to tell me when I don't know!"

"Well, see, that's where we reach the problem, 'cause I wasn't listening either."

"Well what are you writing then?"

"You really want to know?" Jenna taunted.

"YES!" Ginny exclaimed so exuberantly that she almost fell off the comfy in-front-of-the-fire-chair she had been sitting on.

"Ok." Jenna reached over the table between them, and unrolled the paper, showing her a long strip of about three feet of parchment all covered in the words 'I love Aaron', not a centimeter showing. And that was when the two girls burst out laughing.

Four hours later, homework done, Ginny lay back on the couch, her mind busily running over her plans of action. She would have to do it soon, but how soon was to be debated. She'd need some time, so preferably a Friday… 'Cause she might be out late, and school would be hard without much sleep. She didn't want anyone finding out what she was doing. She also had to try and find out when she _could_ do it. Even if she wasn't sure of plans, she had to be sure of this. If her timing faltered, she might as well throw her plans out the window. Ginny closed her eyes; hopefully there would be an opening Friday in which she could get her plan executed. 'Oh well' she thought. 'I'll just have to watch their behavior very carefully; maybe if I'm observant enough I can pick something up. And with that she fell asleep, right there, laying across the couch in the common room.

Wednesday and Thursday passed rather quickly. Ginny spent the time enjoying herself, keeping her eyes open for a sign, any sign, that her plan could be put into action. But she wasn't really expecting to have to for another week or two, so she didn't plan much more, leaving the emergency situations for later. Thursday night came, and Ginny was lying in bed, waiting for sleep to come and claim her. It was just about midnight, when she finally fell asleep…

"_Wormtail, come here," a hard cold voice echoed across the dark clearing._

"_Y-y-y-yes master," the man, whoever he was, was stuttering._

"_Extend your arm." The rapidly paling man rolled up his right sleeve and moved so that his upper forearm, which was revealing the shape Ginny had only heard about, the Dark Mark. The cloaked person, undoubtedly Voldemort, touched it, pressing his index finger to the grotesque branding. Instantly, Ginny heard several popping noises, people Apparating to the clearing. And then she woke up…_

She had to do it now; she couldn't wait until tomorrow, Friday; there was no other way she could be sure that she would get there. Her adventurous side, the side that had made her try out for Quidditch, the side that she treasured, the side that was brave, told her to go right now, just throw on some robes and go. But something told her no; something told her she hadn't planned enough. What if she was seen? What if she found herself in a place with no trees to hide behind? She hadn't worked out the details. She didn't want to go, she wasn't ready. Who knew if she would get a dream like that again; who knew if she'd have another chance. Ginny stumbled across the dark room, grabbed her cloak and broom, and set off. Through the common room, out the portrait hole, and down the hall she walked; she was going to do it. After only one day of real planning, and no emergency situation planning done, she was going out to change the world.

Opening the huge doors that led onto the grounds, Ginny mounted her broom, kicked off into the crisp night air, and flew into the deep night. Ginny had absolutely no clue where she was headed, but the dream had looked like somewhere in the Forbidden Forest, so she was planning on just flying around above it for awhile.

Ten minutes passed, then twenty, and just as her watch turned to _'2:34 AM, go back to bed,'_ she heard the sound of someone screaming. The sudden volume was so unexpected; Ginny nearly fell off her broom… again. She managed to regain her balance as she looked down at the massive sea of black cloaks. She was still over the Forbidden Forest, but there was a clearing. In the center of the group was one man, elevated slightly above the rest. There was, perhaps, a ten-foot radius around him before the mass of people began. Directly in front of the leader, Voldemort, there was another person writhing on the ground. _The effects of the Cruciatus Curse,_ she thought grimly. Turning her broom around she gradually descended to tree level and carefully maneuvered around the treetops, bushes, and just general bramble so as to make as little noise as possible.

"You have greatly disappointed me, letting him slip through our grasp like that!" A deep, dark, cold voice rang through Ginny's ears, scaring her to shreds. But it was too late to change her mind. There was no return, no turning back; she had come this far. She could finish the job. Creeping through the underbrush, she tried to remain hidden as long as possible. Thinking through what she was planning to do, Ginny left her broom where she had landed and managed to reach the edge of the woods, only a rotting log and a few weeds separating her from the Death Eaters and their leader. Raising her wand, she took a deep breath. But just before she said the spell she realized something. The screaming had stopped, as had the cold voice. There wasn't a sound in earshot; her ears, which were only moments ago ringing in screams, now were ringing in silence.

Not lowering her wand, Ginny let out a breath, the only sound in the darkness. Until she heard it, it all happened so fast. A twig snapped, and all of a sudden the scene sprung into a new life. Like a phoenix, the scene that was once so lively had died, and a new one was reborn from the ashes. A dark cloak passed before her eyes, and something covered her head. Smelling something, some poison or something, all Ginny saw was a flash of the sky. A sliver of moon poked through after yesterday's new moon was all she saw before the youngest Weasley was thrust into unconsciousness.

_A younger Ginny, an eleven-year-old Ginny was standing in front of a wall, water flooding the corridor, soaking her feet up to her ankles. A can of red paint hung from her arm as she slowly wrote the threatening message on the wall…_

Ginny awoke suddenly. She didn't know how long she had been unconscious, nor where she was, but she did know she didn't like it there. Since she had arrived here in this cell-like dungeon she had been having nightmares of her first year at Hogwarts as well as the past few weeks. There was a constant cold feeling, and the drafty cell didn't help. There was at least an inch of frost on the barred window that existed in the upper corner of her cold prison, but never had she had the strength to go look out of it. She only had the strength to lie on the cold floor.

Looking around for the first time, she noticed a straw pallet on an incredibly rusty metal bed below the window. Half-crawling over to it she reached it and winced as the creaking spring sunk, echoing in the empty halls beyond the thick wooden door. Looking at the door (Ginny guessed it must be a foot thick) she noticed a small, wormy-looking apple, and a moldy piece of bread, along with a cup of extremely dirty water. Rolling off the mattress, she did her best to retrace her steps and get back to the door. Finally she made it and reached out to take a drink of the water. As it passed by her parched lips just the smell made Ginny want to throw up, but she controlled herself and forced it down. No matter how horrible it tasted, it was water. And it would keep her alive.

After she ate Ginny returned to her 'bed' and tried to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. With horrible memories flooding her mind, and being unable to properly grasp any consciously acceptable thought, Ginny Weasley drifted into an uneasy sleep.

Ginny's breath had caught in her throat, the intense cold of dementors washed over her, sinking deep into her head, freezing it thoroughly. She choked on air while shivering, trying to clear her head enough for a Patronus before the memories caught up with her, until she realized she had no wand with which to complete the spell.

She was lying there on the cold, sickly straw pallet. Her body was lifeless and cold, but she was alive. Oh, she was very much alive in her mind. She was alive and wanting to kill, alive, yet ready to give up. Her moldy bread lay uneaten on the floor, being nibbled by the well-fed mice and rats that resided among the cells. They came every day now, following the guards from cell to cell, ready to devour the endless amounts of unwanted bread and sour water.

Even if Ginny had wanted to eat, at this point she didn't have the strength to get up or even crawl across the grime to get the meager sustenance. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered about the others back home, but every time such a thought approached the ghastly dark shapes would descend upon her door, and yet again misery would overcome any other thought. Each and every time the dreadful creatures would come. Could it be that she felt… Happiness? Was it possible to so much as ponder happiness in such a place?

And so it wasn't. And so she gave up.

Day after day passed this way, or what she figured was day after day anyway. She never did have the strength to look out the window. With the sun not able to penetrate the frost it probably wouldn't have made a difference anyway, but she may find some way to figure how long she had been there. She suspected they didn't bring food every day, as they had only brought it five times and she seemed to be there for months. Sleeping whenever she could and making her food last as long as possible so as to pass time more quickly, Ginny gradually forgot about her life beyond the walls. She remembered her first day in the cell, she remembered the immense cold feeling the dementors generated when they brought her the food every once in awhile, she remembered their scabbed hands slowly emerging from their cloak sleeves, she remembered her first glimpse of the hallway.

As she had watched the creatures bring her food not too long after she had awoken, she saw another door. When they had been leaving, as she woke from that uneasy sleep that was constantly haunting her, she had looked out the door when it opened and she saw a hallway, which, unlike her cell, was surprisingly clean. In fact, it brought back her first fleeting memories of Hogwarts; the stone flagged hallways reminded her of the torch-lit ones leading to Snape's dungeons. Across the hall she had one glimpse, a fleeting glimpse before the door had been shut, binding her into the living heck that she was imprisoned in. Across the hall was another door. And that door gave her hope. As the dementors opened that door, there was another figure huddled on the floor inside of it, and she recognized that figure.

That figure had filled her thoughts for the next who-knew-how-many days. She knew that person, she knew that figure, but whose it was she couldn't figure out. It was strangely familiar, but not enough so for her to realize the person it belonged to. She hadn't seen this person recently; she had seen them a few times at number 12, Grimmauld Place, and plenty of times at Hogwarts, but now she just couldn't tell who it was. The mysterious figure was as foreign to her as Percy had been over the past year and a half. And she had no hope of memory to help out, for her memory wasn't any more helpful than Glderoy Lockhart's would have been, and for those who don't know, that's saying a lot.

Thoughts rumbling across the unexplored plains of unknown and uncrossed territory, Ginny tried to focus, but found she couldn't as every time she tried to reach a conclusion, or grasp something, the dementors' effects would reach their worst and thrust her into unconsciousness, dreaming about her first year at Hogwarts, her nightmares full of the images of herself writing messages on the walls in red paint or strangling the school chickens. Of course, she knew that this all had a happy ending, with Harry coming to save her. But those memories were snatched away from her as she reached them, instead showing her what could have happened. Showing her images of her body, lying lifeless on the hard, cold, damp, stone floor of the chamber, Harry's dead body lying next to her own. She saw her mother weeping over her; she even saw what would have been her funeral. Despite all attempts to convince herself that it wasn't real, that wasn't what happened, she couldn't help but start wailing in despair.

She was snatched from her horrifying memories, or, nightmares, by the seemingly deafening noise of a creaking door, opened by the creatures of her nightmare's origin, literally. Opening her eyes just enough to see them set her food on the floor and exit she sighed. There was no hope for escape; she would remain in this horrid prison for the rest of her life, never again seeing daylight. Living a half-life. She might survive to be twenty, if she was lucky, but as far as she knew, her life ended at fifteen. Or as much that mattered anyways. Never again would she see a sunset over the lake, never again would she fly, wind blowing her hair all over the place. Never again would she watch Harry and Ron play chess, ignoring all homework that had to be done, just for the pure pleasure of it all.

That was when she realized that this was the first time since her arrival that she had been able to think clearly. Always her thoughts were accompanied by a slight hum, like slightly out of tune radio, that annoying fuzz in the background, all of a sudden gaining force as she began to think about something amusing or happy. She could think clearly. Ginny was overcome with a feeling of such intense joy that she wanted to shout out loud. Instead, she consoled herself with simply looking out the window that she had avoided for the past… well, since she got there. Peering through the bars she saw the reason why she could think clearly. There was a huge, stone stadium draped in green and silver, much like the great hall would have been if Slytherin won the house cup. In the center, on a raised platform stood the man of all wrongdoing, Voldemort. Surrounding him, filling the stands, were hundreds of black-cloaked Death Daters. Many, many more then had been at that first meeting. One entire side of the stands was filled with dementors.

Apparently they were having some grand meeting where they all gathered together, for there wasn't a single empty space. Above the gathering shone the full moon, informing her that she had been in Azkaban for about three weeks, maybe more, maybe less, Astronomy wasn't ever her best subject. And even if it had been, it certainly wasn't now. Turning her attention back to the get-together Ginny realized that she couldn't hear what Voldemort was saying, therefore not seeing the point in watching any more.

Stepping off her bed, which she had been standing on in order to see out the window, she decided to eat. Now, although she could think clearly, and was more aware of her surroundings, she was also more aware of her hunger and her thirst. That was when she realized – they hadn't given her the murky brown water that usually accompanied the meal. As if in answer to her thoughts, the door opened again, just slightly, and a dementor was there, setting a cup of murky brown water on the floor. Ginny was able to keep thinking clearly as there was only one of them, as well as the fact that in her time there had lessened their affect on her. Without making it a conscious decision, not thinking about the consequences, Ginny lunged forward just before the door shut. She was in the hallway, and the dementor hadn't noticed.

Ginny shrunk back into the shadows waiting for the dementor to leave the hall. Not that this was necessary, for she knew dementors were blind, well, not blind exactly, but she knew they had no eyes. Her heart was skipping beats as the dementor turned the corner. Sighing in relief she couldn't help but think,_ Great, I finally manage to escape, and I have no clue where I am, or where to go, and I don't have a wand._ Not seeing any other choice Ginny crept slowly after the dementor. She had to get to wherever they kept the wands of the imprisoned peoples, more likely they just snapped them, but she could still use the pieces, or steal a Death Eater's wand. As she rounded the corner she was already feeling faint from lack of food or water and found herself in another corridor, exactly like the one she had just exited, and the dementor was nowhere in sight.

Stumbling down the hallways, Ginny paid no attention to where she was going. All she was thinking was that she would want to get as far to one side as possible, that way she might at least find a window or something that she could go out through. The one in her cell was no good; not only was it several stories up, it looked out towards the center of the island, and she couldn't get to it anyway, she was now locked out of her cell. Looking straight down the current hall, Ginny saw a dream come true: at the end of the hall was an archway, several stairs leading down from it, and a balcony. Hobbling much faster than before, Ginny made her way to the archway. There turned out to be only a few stairs, but it was hope. Leaning heavily on the rail, Ginny reached the bottom of them and went out onto the small area following. As she did this, she realized that this didn't lead to a window, it led to a balcony.

Her heart nearly stopped as she saw she was now standing directly above the meeting, looking out at every single Death Eater, every dementor, and every evil beast, all in plain view. In the center of them all, stood the leader, Tom Marvolo Riddle, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, You-Know-Who, Voldemort. He was still talking, lecturing his followers. Now she could hear what he was saying, but chose not to listen. It wouldn't help her at all; she needed to find a way out. This would have worked, she could have climbed or jumped off the balcony, it wasn't too high. And there was ivy leaves climbing the sides of the building that would work for climbing perfectly. The only problem was it was an island, and Ginny wasn't the best swimmer in the world.

She needed a wand, and there was only one place where she could get one. Taking a deep breath, bracing herself for what came next, Ginny found strength that she didn't know she had as she swung her leg over the stone barrier around the edge of the balcony. Edging around it carefully, she reached the wall without being seen. Trying to make as little noise as possible, Ginny was relieved that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wasn't facing her. Creeping down the ivy Ginny put her strength from Quidditch to good use holding herself steady. The last thing she needed was to fall; it would be like signing her own death warrant.

Ginny half-wanted to jump the last few feet, but it was an unnecessary risk. The Death Eaters would surely notice, as they were less then ten feet away. She forced herself to climb the last few feet, and although it wasn't a hard feat, she breathed a sigh of relief when her feet were firmly on the ground again.

Ginny was now out of the prison, and would have been free, if it weren't for three things. She still didn't have a wand, she still had no clue where she was (did anyone?), and the Death Eaters were terrifyingly close. She really saw only one choice: follow the wall. Setting out along the wall, it didn't take long to find what she was looking for. A heavy, metal gate that was at least ten feet high. Through it she saw the cold, hard sea crashing menacingly against the rock island on which the prison was situated. Before Ginny looked for locks, though, she saw something: in the middle of the meeting, right near the leader, were piles and piles of wands. Undoubtedly the Death Eaters' own. Smart precaution, that way if any of his ranks was a spy, they couldn't betray him and help them take over Azkaban or something.

But then she noticed something herself by now she was behind the rows of dementors, black cloak upon black cloak, hovering slightly above the ground. Or so it looked, the cloaks didn't quite reach the ground, and no feet were visible beneath them, so Ginny simply assumed that they were hovering. But what she noticed was a bit of brown amidst all the black; one of the dementors had a wand in its pocked. What a dementor would be doing with a wand she didn't know, but she knew it was a wand, she could tell. And from how it looked, it was the only chance she'd have at getting one. Not wanting to waste her chance, Ginny crept up behind them, under the bleacher-like stands, approaching the dementor cautiously. But just as she reached him, a commotion aroused. At first Ginny thought she had been heard, but what had happened was just as bad. The meeting was over, and people were leaving, she could, and most likely would, be discovered.

Ginny was so scared out of her wits that she couldn't think of what to do. Her instincts from sneaking around Hogwarts took over; she shrunk back into the shadows, waiting for the Death Eaters, dementors, and other evil beings to pass. Finally they were gone, or so she thought. Ginny sighed and stepped out, then the cold voice echoed through the shadows again.

"No! You must find her! I don't care if she's only fifteen, no, now! Every guard should be looking! She can't get off the island, there's only so far she can go!" Ginny paled, even more so then she had so far, and tried to get back before they rounded the corner. But she wasn't quick enough. Around the corner came a dementor, the dementor with the wand to be specific. It glided over to her at a remarkably fast pace. Ginny braced herself. She couldn't run, not only was there nobody to run to, but it was going faster then she could already. Instead she just braced herself for the worst and decided she would simply do her best to keep it away, and her mouth shut.

As it approached, Ginny remained unaffected, all the time around dementors over the past few weeks had reduced the effect of only one. With some effort, all she felt was slightly cold when they were around her. The black cloak swept barely above the ground as it reached its prey, Ginny. Trying to do everything and anything that might keep it away from her, Ginny began to kick, punch, flail her arms, anything that might keep it away from her. But alas, there was only so much she could do without a wand. There was no doubt that the rest of the dementors would be arriving any second.

She felt increasingly cold as the dementor knocked her over, leaned over her. She could hardly breath as the disgusting smell of rotting eggs filled the air. Clenching her jaws tightly together (Ginny was determined to keep her soul) she tried not to gasp in surprise as the dementor lowered its hood to reveal what might have somewhat resembled a human face, if a human face were scabbed over and eye-less and nose-less, with no hair, actually. It was basically a feature-less head with a dark, round hole where the mouth might have been. That was when she knew it was happening, cold swept throughout her body and she felt a piercing pain near her mouth. Not daring to open her eyes, she felt the inner cold running through her bloodstream, searing pain near her heart. Just as she was sure her life was over…


	6. ISOE: A Change Within

6: A Change Within

Three hours later, Remus began to stir in his sleep; however, Ginny hardly noticed. She was far too busy saving her life with "ruthless wand-waving," directing the thick reeds and long, tough bamboo sticks.

"Wha-?" He sat up, looking confused and squinting in the sun. "W-what are yo-ou d-doing?" he said, yawning.

"What – oh, this?" Ginny showed him the platform she had constructed. It was a long, flat platform of bamboo trunks, held together by the tough reed that grew from the woods and water nearby, nearly two meters square. In the middle, there were two one-meter rectangles cut into it, where both brooms were attached at either end. "It's… erm… something?" She couldn't explain this any better than Ron could have explained how a television worked.

He snorted. "Quite descriptive of you."

"Thanks a lot, that's really saying something coming from Mr. Asleep over here," she said imitating his yawn. "It's like, a thing… that starts with a letter of the alphabet…."

He gave her a blank look that clearly said "Decide what it is, or tell me what it does."

"I attached our brooms together! This way, only one of us has to fly, while the other can sleep, or eat, or whatever."

"Right, and we're expected to be able to steer this thing… how?"

"It's just like a giant broomstick…" she said nervously. She truthfully had absolutely no clue how it worked. "Okay, so I don't know, but you never know until you try! Let's try."

"No! You actually expect me to trust this… thing?" he exclaimed, earning a glare from Ginny.

"And who was the one who wanted to leave hours ago? Do you want to get home or not?"

"All right," he relented, "but no testing over oceans."

"Suit yourself… although some brooms_ have_ been known to work differently over water, due to the ground magic that holds them up. Certain brooms don't fly over deeper water well, because they don't have sky-hook-connections," she pointed out.

"Sky-hook-connections?" He looked at her as if she were insane – which certainly couldn't be denied, but she usually hid it uncannily well around adults who thought her a respectable young adult.

"Now who's Captain Oblivious?" she reprimanded, "_Read Willy Wonka and the Great Glass Elevator _– Muggle book."

"I know perfectly well what it is!" he said in annoyance.

They ran a quick test by going over some of the shallower sections of the water, and then set off flying for their unknown destination.

"Oh!" Ginny exclaimed, sudden realization dawning upon her, "_Point Me_!" Her wand spun around rapidly, pointing slightly to the left. "So if that's North… Hogwarts must be this way!" She pointed straight ahead of them. "But, that's the way we're going…" She turned on Remus. "You knew where we were!" she accused, "You knew exactly where we've been all along, and you _never_ told me! All those times I tried to figure it out, you just kept it to yourself." She plopped down on the now-stable platform, irritated.

Remus, recognizing the fact that she'd never listen to anything he said anyway, simply said nothing – why waste energy? Instead, he focused on remembering the currents and depths of the various areas of the Atlantic Ocean. He could always conjure a map, but this way was more interesting. If worst came to worst, he could do that. And if he wanted to, he could Apparate, but only if matters became bad. He would have to take the wand, meaning that a sixteen-year-old girl would be stuck in the middle of nowhere, with evil beings all around her and no means of defense – no, this way was better.

For the next three days, Ginny and Remus, weary from their travels, had decided to take turns _driving_ as they kindly took to referring to it. Ginny preferred sleeping and eating in the time she had off, but was mildly bothered by the fact that Remus would often spend his hours staring at the blank sky, or unmoving waters. The tedious job of driving nearly drove Ginny to insanity trying to stay awake time and again. Once she actually did fall asleep for a moment, but just after that they were ambushed by a large group of flying fish, which nearly knocked them out of the air. She had to wake herself up to steer the contraption up thirty feet to get out of their line of fire, causing Remus to nearly fall off as he was sleeping at the time. Life had been boring for the partners as of late. Ginny guessed it was nearing the end of January or the beginning of February, drawing her conclusion from the biting cold air and the occasional ice chunk seen in the turbulent waters. Every few minutes a wave would collide with another, drenching them with icy sea spray.

Ginny could tell she was sick. The proper clothes and food helped in the past few weeks, as well as the numerous warming charms. However, after so many they started to lose their effect, and Ginny was shivering as the ice cold wind cut through the blankets as if a knife to butter.

Remus was driving, not paying attention to anything as he stared straight ahead, his face revealing no emotion. Ginny closed her eyes lightly and rested them for she had been straining her vision for the past twelve hours during her shift as she looked for any site of land. None had come in that time, but that was to change soon.

She moaned, rolling over as the bitter wind bit her already frostbitten nose. Rubbing her stinging eyes, Ginny sat up, straining to see in the direction they were moving in and determined to see land. Strangely enough, she didn't need to look askance to see land though. Right there, only about five hundred meters into the distance, she could see the rocky coastline of Scotland. Sure, she had no clue whereabouts they were on the coast, but it was there, and that's what mattered.

Glancing to her right, she saw Remus in the exact same position he had been eleven hours ago. He was sitting there, hands clasping the broom handle as if they were frozen, tightly gripping the splintering wood. He stared straight ahead, not minding the biting winds nor the snow that was now more than capable of stinging when flying as quickly as they were. Ginny turned around, satisfied with her numb view of land, now just wanting to stay slightly warmer.

Huddling against the floor, she looked up at her old professor, wondering what he was thinking about. For in the time it took her to slouch down, he had his face twisted into a position that was unmistakable for one who was deep in thought. It was obvious to Ginny that he hadn't yet noticed the land, although it had undoubtedly been in view for at least an hour if she looked hard enough.

_"I wonder, maybe he isn't… it's always possible. I definitely should be telling this to Dumbledore, but I can't leave her here by herself. If I could only Apparate back for just a minute…" _

_Ginny felt cold air rushing past her cheeks; she felt the cold sting her eyes without relent. She could hear Remus speak; yet he wasn't speaking, for she was Remus. The biggest change was in color. For the past few weeks since their daring escape, she had seen in nothing but black, white, and various grays. Now, however, her sight was perfect. In the distance she saw the lush, green coastline of the wilderness beyond the borders of Gairloch. But, she had no reason to see its significance. _

_"But… No, he betrayed them, no chance… unless…" Ginny could hear Remus thinking hard; she could hear him. She felt her head glance down. But the head wasn't hers, below, slightly to the right of Remus' foot, was her head. She was no longer Ginny Ginger Belladonna Andromeda Weasley, she was… _

Ginny gasped and sat up to see Remus looking at her with a look of concern on his face replacing the one he had had only seconds earlier.

"Yeah, erm, I'm fine." She had no clue what to say.

"Okay, good…" he trailed off, resuming his earlier composure of thought.

Ginny sat in silence as well, a new thing for her over the past few weeks. Had it been several months earlier, she would have spent her time imagining the pictures of Harry that she had in her dormitory. Had it been only about two months ago, she would have spent her time depressed, thinking about how life would have been if something were different. Had it been a few weeks ago, she would be asleep or reliving the worst moments of her life (her first year at Hogwarts). Even a few days ago she would have filled the silence with chatter that was meaningless to her traveling companion, simple, meaningless words that were to go in one ear and out the other, making no imprint on his mind. But now she was thinking. Her face set, much like the other's was, eyes wide, staring into the abyss, unaware of anything except her thoughts. _What just happened? It was like I _inhabited_ him or something! Does this have something to do with the Dementor attack?_ Ginny shivered just thinking about the memory, aware once more of the subzero winds that removed all feeling from her body.

The two sat in silence for the next hour, and even as they switched places on the craft did they remain so. Remus conjured a large, warm plate of fried chicken for himself and coffee for them both. Ginny took it with a nod. This was how they had come to understand each other – if Remus was silent, Ginny remained so as well. If Ginny was silent, Remus followed her example and did not speak. They rarely had had many conversations during the past week or so, just silent communication, the occasional 'Thanks' or 'Good Morning' was heard, but on the whole it was quiet. Ginny's ears were ringing at first, but eventually she came to a mutual agreement with herself, not minding, even _liking_ it – sort of. All this thinking time made her realize exactly how much she actually missed everyone – exactly how good her life really was.

The initial happiness of finally being over land soon wore off, as flying endlessly over low hills and brush was hardly more interesting than flying over water. The only advantage was that they _could_ land every once in awhile, but they didn't. Both were eagerly awaiting their return to Hogwarts, but for very different reasons.

One more day passed. Ginny let her mind wander; she had been catching up on sleep and food during their traveling time, and didn't look half as haunted as she did before. But she thought her ears looked permanently red and her lips the same, but blue. She had long lost feeling in her toes and even feet, the same for her fingers and hands. On the last day, she was having trouble gripping the broom, fingers swollen stiff from cold and from lack of movement. Sure, magic was on their side, but it still couldn't make things comfortable, and the only people that they had contact with (themselves) had absolutely no experience in healing. Remus, of course, knew what to do after encountering dark creatures or forces, and they had eaten plenty of chocolate during the time since their escape, but nothing could make up for the physical pain felt constantly for that long of a time-frame.

"There it is!" Ginny practically shouted, overcome with joy as the forbidden forest came into view. Remus was driving again, and she stayed up for most of his shift, watching for any sign of Hogwarts. Of course, she had underestimated the size of it and eventually fell asleep, her dreams filled with images of a certain black-haired, green-eyed boy, a blond-haired girl, and two others, one with hair burnt orange in color, the other with masses of frizzy brown. She couldn't wait to get home…


	7. ISOE: Moving On

**Disclaimer:** While, yes, I get into trouble sometimes, frequently it has nothing to do with the governmental laws we so abide by everyday. Then, in contemplating my status with the law and the law's status with me, one would realize that I would do nothing with such harmful effects to myself as copying a fellow author's work of art. Now that that is settled, we can resume in reading my little story based of J.K. Rowling's wonderful masterpiece, and humbly accept that none of the characters, excluding a few, were made from my own mind or subconscious. Thank you.

**Chapter 7: Moving On**

"Do you think she'll be up soon?" A voice drifted into her head; it was familiar, yet so unknown.

"I dunno, I mean, she's been asleep for nearly a week now-" the voice trailed off.

Ginny was at a loss for the strength to roll over, even opening her eyes was beyond her capabilities. Her body was like lead weight in an ocean, sinking down, farther and farther into dreams that she was avoiding with every ounce of energy. She certainly hadn't been this tired before, and she wanted to get up, to see the people who were talking. Who were they? Where was she? What had happened? She had so many questions, none of which could be asked.

"Let's just stay here. I'll go get our books. What do you need for Potions?" Another voice entered Ginny's mind like a diver to water – she knew that voice; it was so fresh in her memory, yet so unknown, so very unrecognizable.

Sitting still, slowing her breathing to long, low, deep breaths, Ginny managed to get up enough energy to roll over and open her eyes. In the process, she groaned as aching muscles protested for more rest.

"Look!" the owner of the first voice she had heard was pointing at her, and now she recognized him easily as Harry, "she's awake!"

"Ginny? How are you?" Ron said loudly, swooping down on her and sweeping her into a tight hug.

"When you all realize that yes, I'm awake, and yes, I am still here, kindly acknowledge me. My brain is screaming 'more sleep, more sleep!'" She began to close her eyes, but they were brought open again as the door opened and Dumbledore strode in.

"Hello, Miss Weasley. I hear you had quite a trip." His eyes, although they looked gray to Ginny, were undoubtedly twinkling in the bright, florescent light of the hospital wing, making it clear to Ginny that Remus had told him all, all which he knew anyway – which wasn't very much.

"Yes Professor…" She looked at him wearily, trying to guess what he may be leading up to.

Over the next hour Ginny told them everything… well, almost everything. Dumbledore did a quick little vision spell, to return her the powers of color, which, believe it or not, made a huge difference.

"… So then we flew on that platform thing all the way back here. Except I dunno what happened near the end, because I was asleep," she concluded, feeling very tired again, despite her long sleep.

A week later, Ginny was entirely well, caught up on her sleep, and attending classes again. She had been hard at work during her time in the hospital wing, catching up in all of her subjects. O.W.L.s were not far off, and she was so far behind. It did help, however, that Harry, Ron, and Hermione plus Jenna were coming to visit her in the hospital wing after classes every day, therefore available for questions in any subject. Hermione was the main help, but Jenna brought her missed homework for each day and helped her finish the homework that she had been gone for previously, which most teachers were making her do – an evil thing, as it would take months of non-stop work to make everything up.

It was late, around 2:00 AM Ginny guessed, a few days after her return to classes. Everyone had long since gone to bed, but she was still holed up in the common room, determined to finish the Herbology essay she was working on (_Describe, in detail, the four uses of Biting Tulips' roots_). She already had a foot, only three more inches… three more inches… As she started to doze off, her big, chocolate-brown eyes getting lost in the dimming embers of the fire, she realized that nothing more would be accomplished tonight… er… this morning. She rolled up the parchment, stuffed it in the bag, and slumped upstairs. Easing open the squeaky door, Ginny tried her best not to wake her roommates from their deep, peaceful slumber. She quickly changed and slipped into bed; however, before she could close her eyes, they fell upon Jenna's sleeping form…

_Ginny looked down to see the body of a young girl; she seemed to be about five-years-old and lay limp upon a wood floor, stained red with blood. The girl had short blond hair and would have been most adorable had she not been lifeless. _

"Tia! Tiana! No! Tiana!" Ginny said, but it wasn't Ginny. 'No, she can't be dead; _they can't have got her, they just can't have,' she heard herself think – but it wasn't her doing the thinking. Ginny looked up to see a figure in a long, black cloak standing over her. The figure let out a cold, cruel_ _laugh. A laugh Ginny knew well – too well. The figure Apparated away with a sharp 'crack', leaving her there kneeling beside the body of the child. Ginny looked up, or, whoever was having the dream looked up. Her eyes locked on the eyes in a mirror, and they stared back into her own – and Ginny knew at once what was happening;_ _she almost screamed._

Ginny threw her eyes open in shock. There, sleeping across the room from her, lay Jenna. Tossing and turning in her sleep, she was moaning, "Tiana, Tia! No!" Ginny didn't know what to do, but she understood now what had happened. She also understood why Jenna avoided the topic of Voldemort so much… she had suffered worse than anyone knew. Ginny only wondered why she had kept quiet. Then Ginny mulled over her own long-kept secret and understood why. Much at peace, Ginny closed her eyelids gently, letting sleep take her away.

"Ginny… Ginny, wake up!" Jenna's loud, somewhat obnoxious voice was more annoying than a foghorn at three o'clock AM, especially when it yelled in Ginny's ear that early in the morning.

"What?" Ginny groaned, rolling over to see the face of Jenna Moliby, which was quite red from yelling so much.

"Ginny, I know you're still getting back on the going-to-class schedule and everything here, but… and I'm sorry if this sounds rather rude, but _class starts in three minutes!"_

"What?" Ginny rolled out of bed and started getting dressed hurriedly as Jenna grabbed a few of books randomly, stuffing them in her bag.

"Honestly, Ginny, I was yelling for at least ten minutes, you were like a rock." Jenna panted, trying to help Ginny, but making it take longer as she kept knocking the books she really needed and such onto the floor. "Come on, Ginny, can you hurry up just a little bit? Class started…" she checked her watch, "almost two minutes ago!"

"Two minutes?" Ginny laughed hoarsely. "Since when do you care about being two minutes late?"

"Since never, that's not the thing – the problem is – we have Divination!"

"So? We'll slip in, she won't notice, and if she does…" Ginny shrugged, "Life goes on."

"Ginny!" Jenna started to protest, but changed her mind at the last second and said "Whatever, let's just go!" She shoved a plate of bacon and eggs into her hands. "Come on!" she added when her friend just stood there, snorting with laughter. "What's so funny?"

"Jenna… think about it. A friend would wake me up; a good friend would grab some breakfast for me, maybe a piece of toast or something. And you? You bring me _bacon and eggs_."

"I'm just a good friend!" Jenna defended herself, taking mock-offense in the statement.

"No – you're just an incredibly insane friend… not that there's much of a difference…" Ginny pondered aloud.

"Well, I would say 'thank you', but we have approximately," she checked her watch again, "negative five minutes to get to class, and it will take negative three times that to get there!"

"Ooh! Jenna, good maths!" Ginny was rather hyper… the roles, strangely reversed.

Ginny and Jenna hurried along the corridors. Jenna off in space somewhere daydreaming about…

"Aaron," Ginny said aloud,

"Where!" Jenna whirled around, sending Ginny into fits of giggles. "Why you little…" Jenna made to lunge at Ginny but stopped, smiling to herself. "How did you know what I was thinking about?"

"Jenna, think about who you're talking to. I know that look better than anyone else."

"Good point…" She nodded, still grinning. "But I think you know this look a little too well..." She looked unsure of how to say what she wanted to say.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well… I'm not really sure how to say this, Ginny. I haven't brought it up since we last talked about it, but I think someone needs to." She sighed, obviously not wanting to say what she was trying to.

"Just tell me, already. We don't have all day."

"Well… remember that conversation we had before you…"

"Got abducted?" Ginny offered, smiling.

"Right… Remember the one, umm… after Divination."

"About Harry?"

"Exactly…"

"What about it?"

"Well, have you thought about it at all?" she asked, looking unsure of herself.

Ginny shrugged, "No, should I have? You were obviously not quite sane during that conversation. I have no reason to take it seriously."

"I was afraid you would take it like this." She sighed, looking at the floor, "I meant what I said, Ginny. He's never going to like you if you don't get the to the point that, no matter how wonderful he may truly be, he's just a normal person." She held up her hands, "Cute, yes. Nice, powerful, brave," she listed all the things she loved about him, "Yes. But he's your brother's best friend. And even if you do like him in that way, which nobody denies, you should still see him for that." She looked regretful that she had said so, but sighed, and at the same time seemed relieved it had been done. And without another word, she turned and jogged ahead, taking the staircase that led to the Divination ladder three stairs at a time.

They ended up being the predicted half hour late, and, as Ginny suspected, they were able to sneak in without much notice. Professor Trelawney had her back turned, demonstrating the proper posture to sit in while dictating a prophecy. Of course, all of this was entirely bogus, and Ginny knew that, so she didn't bother herself by listening. Ginny sat there, in a pouf on the very edge of the classroom, very near the door. She stared over the top of Luna Lovegood's head, out the window and over the tops of the trees. The sky was a dismal grey as she saw through the corner of her unfocused eye a snowy owl seep down out of the clouds and into the owlry…

'_No… nobody will care…' Ginny was all of a sudden in a much different environment. She found that she was now on the other side of the room, and looking in a different direction. That was when she realized that, for another time, she was not herself. Ginny was now looking at herself as though in a mirror. The difference was – it wasn't a mirror. Ginny had no clue what to do, so she simply waited out the terrible ordeal, trying to block out the slightly-vague voice of Luna as she thought the most bizarre things Ginny had ever heard, much less thought. 'Daddy must visit, Crumple-horned Snorknack turning green. Also happened – 1147' her thoughts were like badly taken History notes, which had accidentally gotten mixed with Care of Magical Creatures ones. One word sentences, very choppy, it was a wonder this girl managed all 'Outstandings' on her more recent exams. How much longer would she have to bear this…_

Just as she thought this, Ginny all of a sudden found herself back in her own body, thoughts once more possessed by only her. She had had no clue of what to do… until now. It had just come to her what her brother, Harry, and Hermione had been doing for years – when in doubt – _go to Dumbledore!_

Ginny, feeling rather embarrassed at just suddenly showing up at Dumbledore's office, was a little reluctant to go in and simply start talking, but once she began it was much easier to tell the details of the tale regarding her recent strange experiences.

"And… well, it just happened again…" she concluded, blushing slightly. Ginny had no clue on earth what to do next, so she simply sat and waited, silently willing the headmaster to say something. Finally, the silence was broken.

"And I suppose you came here today hoping I would be able to tell you what all of this meant?" he said, the gravity in his voice somewhat unsettling for her to hear. And although it was obviously not a question, she nodded precariously. "That I cannot do, but I have theories." He began, "When that Dementor began to administer The Kiss I suppose it began by taking the senses – touch, taste, sight, hear, and smell. As Remus, in werewolf form, interrupted the process, only a very small bit of this process was completed – therefore weakening those senses. Because of this, it may be that your incomplete senses were, should we say disconnected, for your body. So now, they can roam into the bodies of others and inhabit them." He looked very uncertain, and voiced this a moment later, securing Ginny's wonderings, but it still unnerved her quite a bit.

"So… is it like…" she was a bit scared to voice her next question aloud, and was saved from having to as he answered her easily.

"No, it's nothing like when Tom was inhabiting you, or how he inhabited Harry last year. For one, you have no control over this, and two, you can hear people's thoughts – both of which are not involved in Legilimency." Ginny breathed a sigh of relief, and thanked her headmaster quietly, making her way out of the bright, sunny office. "I assume you are catching up on your class work fine."

"Um… you could say that," Ginny said, not quite lying, but had that been a more direct statement, it would have been one of the bigger lies found in her history. In response Dumbledore simply nodded merrily, adding with a twinkle in his eye:

"I'm sure your brother and his friends would be glad to help you catch up if you asked them." He seemed amused, and frankly, the resident redhead couldn't see why.

"Erm… thanks, I'll do that," she replied warily, and if she was sure of anything, it was that that wouldn't be happening anytime soon.

The next few days passed relatively normally, leaving Ginny with a sense of comfort as she spent hours holed up in the common room, catching up on her loads of missed schoolwork as she watched Jenna and those who were commonly known as 'The Triplets' played chess. The Triplets were Katie, Emma, and their brother, Michael. They were all in Ginny's dorm, with the obvious exception of the latter stated, for apparent reasons. The odd thing was, they seemed to share a brain. So, despite the fact that Jenna was technically only playing against Katie, the others were watching, and could help her without ever making a sound. This fact had at first involved quite a bit of disagreement, but things had evened themselves out over time, and it was now taken just as a fact of life. Of course, it helped that none of them could play chess to save their lives…

"Check!" Katie cried out cheerfully, shaking her short, chocolate brown hair out behind her as she laughed cheerfully. Jenna just threw her friend a smile as she made her move,

"Check… _mate_!" she exclaimed, laughing at the look of shock that was now covering Katie's face, making it clear to everyone that she _hadn't_ seen this coming. But she laughed her shock off, as she pulled out her wand, giving a little flick towards the board, looking surprised to see the pieces rearrange themselves, ready in position for another game.

"_Wow! I've never been able to do that one before! Emma! Michael! Ellie! Jack!_" Katie yelled out to all her resident relatives suddenly, "_Jenna! Ginny! Sierra!_ _Stephanie!"_ she continued yelling out the names of all her friends, and everyone in the common room until everyone's eardrums were bursting. For someone so small, she sure was _loud_.

A week had passed, and much to Ginny's relief, nothing out of the ordinary happened. She got told off four times, lost about sixty house points (all from Snape) and still managed to get three detentions. Things were getting back to normal. She was finally caught up in Defense Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, Divination, and Charms, and almost caught up in Herbology, Astronomy, and Transfiguration. Things had been going quite well for her until Thursday…

Ginny walked briskly down the corridor, determined to get to her dormitory before the transition came. The inhabitances had been becoming less frequent, but lasting longer. And, luckily for her, she had started to be able to feel them coming on, feeling her senses slowly emerge from her body. She was getting the feeling right then, and she wanted to get where nobody would panic. Of course, her friends knew about her situation, and could therefore cover for her; she just needed to get to the dormitory…

"Infernal Homework!" she said urgently, her amusement at Ron's password choice slightly worn off.

"No need to be huffy about it!" the Fat Lady said, sounding slightly put out as she swung herself open, allowing Ginny admittance to the common room. She broke into an urgent run but couldn't even make it to the staircase and collapsed onto the nearest armchair as her thoughts swirled…

Ginny would have sighed in relief as the feeling died down, not in her own body, but at least not still floating free in the air, subject to whatever came her way. She was going too fast, so she hadn't had time to see whom she was entering, but sincerely hoped it wasn't a Slytherin, specifically Malfoy. She knew she was in a N.E.W.T. Transfiguration class, as it said so on the board, but would have to wait to see who exactly she was…

"Mr. Potter, what are the three most common incantations used for like-species switches, and how many are there total?" Ginny expected to have the head of whoever she was in to spin around somewhat wildly, or so it felt to the one not controlling where it went, and to have the eyes behind which she remained rest on the familiar face of Harry James Potter. What she didn't expect was what happened.

'_I know this! Hermione was just lecturing me on this _exact_ thing last night… what was it?' _Ginny was… and there was really only one word for the feeling she was experiencing for what was most likely the trillionth time, Ginny was intensely _scared_. She had been deliberately avoiding Harry for the past couple of weeks since her return, and now she was _inhabiting _him. Things couldn't get worse – or so she thought.

Ginny followed Harry all day through the rest of Transfiguration, double N.E.W.T. Potions, and N.E.W.T. Herbology. She was a silent observer while he did his homework, ate dinner, played chess with Ron, and for the rest of the day. He was exhausted; she could feel his fatigue as if it were the Crucatious Curse, burning a hole in her mind as she felt him struggle to keep his eyes open, finishing an essay. She was immensely relieved that night when he finally went to sleep… Which was around three o'clock in the morning. 6:30 came all too soon for both of them.

With another long day ahead, Ginny tried desperately to control her senses. She must have attempted everything from concentration to struggling to use physical force, or as much physical force possible under the circumstances. Today she followed him through both Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts, bringing them to lunch…

Ginny could taste the thankfully warm chicken noodle soup as it ran down Harry's throat as he carried on a nonsense conversation about current Chudley Cannons current league-standings, of course, talking to Ron. It wasn't that she didn't care about Quidditch; she just had more interesting things to ponder on. Her thoughts were just starting to refocus on her unsuspecting captor when she was jerked back to the ever-going conversation by a sudden thought that was more then meaningful to her waiting ears…

'_I wonder where Ginny is? I haven't seen her in… must be about two days now… man I miss h- NO!' _Ginny, like so many times before, would have sighed, but instead felt the heart that wasn't really hers swell with happiness…_'I_ can't _like Ginny. No! She's Ron's little sister, no!' _Under normal circumstances she would have been crushed to know these thoughts. But she thought of Ron, and smiled to herself at how alike their two situations were, in drastically different ways.

Ginny listened as the boys' conversation turned back to Quidditch and this time, her thoughts stayed with them, eager for another mind-slip on Harry's part. However, much to her dismay, none came. Suddenly there was another rustling of feathers, and most of the Hall looked up to see a lone owl fluttering down from the make-shift sky miserably. At first she wondered why it was coming at lunch, after all, the mail had come at breakfast normally; however, as it approached she saw a black letter clutched in its beak. The sight of it nearly made her nauseous as she remembered the fateful day where such a letter came for her, but only nearly. She felt the combined breath get caught in Harry's lungs as it came to the Gryffindor table, right towards where the trio to most, quartet to our protagonist, was sitting. The owl fluttered by Harry and Ron, who were sitting across from one another, but the next person wasn't quite so lucky…

Hermione burst into tears before she even opened the letter, knowing what it contained she just buried her face in her hands and ran out of the hall. Ron instantly got up to follow her as Harry did the same. His mind was strangely blank as he walked urgently down the halls, heading for Gryffindor Tower where he knew she was headed by instinct. Several staircases ahead, Ron ran after Hermione in deep earnest.

Harry continued walking slowly, as if in shock that something like this happened. His thoughts were multiplying so fast that Ginny could barely catch one before the next was gone, like trying to listen to four different conversations at once. Finally they reached the portrait hole, through which the preceding two had disappeared,

"Infernal Homework," Harry said so quickly, in such a dark, hurt voice that Ginny barely heard it before the painting swung forward. As it opened it revealed a sight so unexpected, that Ginny was slightly unnerved. Hermione was sitting in one of the chairs by the fire, rocking back and forth in her tears. Ron was sitting down next to her, on the edge of the chair comforting her.

"Shh… it's ok Hermione…"

"_No it's not_!" she screeched, making both Harry and Ron wince at the ferocity in her tone, "How _can_ it be ok when my parents are… are…" she broke down into sobs once again before finishing her statement, as if speaking it would make it final.

"That's right…" her brother's voice was strangely low and caught in his throat as he listened to his long-time best friend mourn her parents.

Ginny could feel Harry's urge to go over there, but also noticed that he resisted, and instead went quietly across the room and upstairs. Ginny silently praised him for having the insight that Hermione would want some time alone.

After several minutes it became clear to Ginny that the entire trio would be missing their afternoon classes (History of Magic and Divination), as all Harry was doing was lying on his back behind his four-poster bed, accomplishing nothing more than learning the ceiling tiles very well. His mind was racing, but Ginny ignored, having her own things to think of. She knew she should care more about Hermione's parents, but Harry had wondered where _she_ was… ok, so it wasn't much to go on – but he hadn't voiced it, which _definitely_ meant something – most likely the typical 'If I say it out loud people will wonder if I like her, which _can't_ happen', seeing as, if he didn't _actually_ like her, he would never have wondered about. Yes, Ginny was restored with a new hope and dwelled on this for several minutes before returning to listening to Harry's scrambled up thoughts.

_Well… maybe, okay – I'll go down and see if Hermione's okay _now_… wait, no… five more minutes…_ he checked his watch for the eighth time in five minutes, _Oh, what the heck… _Harry rolled over onto his feet and made his way downstairs, slowing down considerably before opening the door,obviously afraid of what was on the other side – and frankly, Ginny couldn't say she blamed him. He took a deep breath, deciding whether to open the door normally, extra loudly, or slow and quiet. He decided on the former, and walked into the seemingly empty common room. Then she saw Ron and Hermione in the same chairs they were in before, playing a seemingly innocent game of chess.

"Checkmate," Ron's voice filtered across the common room, which seemed exceptionally empty while everyone else was in class. Ginny watched through Harry's eyes as Ron's rook moved forward and knocked over Hermione's queen, knocking her to the ground with a brutal crash and shatter. At this Hermione's eyes started tearing up again, the move obviously reminding her of her parents' fate. "Oh, Hermione…" Ron had a hint of exasperation, but kept his voice as calm as possible as he told her to stop crying. Harry was left standing there, unnoticed by his best friends. He cleared his throat, causing the other two to glance up, startled at his presence.

"Harry…" Hermione started, her voice sounding oddly choked.

"Hi," was all he responded, coming over to sit next to the chessboard, in a chair between the two. "Are you okay, Hermione?" he asked, testing, as if he was afraid she would burst into tears again.

"Y-Y-Yeah, I-I'm fine, j-just…" she couldn't finish her sentence, as, sobs started to break her temporary breach of calmness.

Harry made his way over to her and gave her what he hoped was a comforting hug. "I'm sorry…" he whispered as he retreated a few feet, to give her her own space. Ron seemed to have things under control, so Harry, not wanting to intrude on what could possibly be a very important moment of Ron and Hermione's future, made his way up the stairs.

Upon reaching the dormitory, Harry, yet again, flopped down on his four-poster and stared at the ceiling. As usual, the other four boys came up and got ready for bed silently as Harry pretended to be asleep. Harry lay in bed for hours, eventually drifting off to sleep.

'No! Not Harry! Take me instead! Not Harry-' 

The voices echoed inside Harry's head, as Ginny was dumbstruck to actually know his nightmares. Of course she knew Harry had the nightmares… but never had she seen them, nor had she thought they were this bad. She had a new sympathy for him as she thought about how horrible life until now must have been for him… not that she hadn't sympathized with him before, the memory of her first year was all too chilling to ever forget. But she now saw his life with a new angle, one of understanding, one that nobody alive could understand excepting the two mentioned. With the pictures still vivid in her mind, Ginny pondered all day.

By dinner that night Ginny was seriously wondering if she was stuck in Harry's mind forever; the sensation had never lasted this long before. She forced herself not to panic, as nothing would have been helped if she did. She had no means of communication with anybody no matter how hard she tried to make her thoughts loud, so maybe Harry's mind could hear hers or something. But in spite of everything she tried, nothing worked.

Hermione sat silently between Harry and Ron, her face stoic to any and all offerings of comfort. From what Ginny had observed, life as Harry's friend was fairly easy – become his friend, then, when he gives you 'the test' just 'pass' it. It went like this – She had concluded that Harry was insecure about the fact that people actually cared about him, didn't believe it at first, which was unremarkably understandable, looking at his past. He accepted you as his friend, and everything would be okay, but after awhile he would test you, get really mad at you over something, might be something small – a broomstick daresay. He wouldn't talk to you, and generally do nothing to initiate an apology. He had to make sure you really cared, cared enough not to betray him, or turn your back on him. A general Harry-fight lasted at least a month. But afterwards, you never fought again, for more then five minutes at least.

Harry shifted uncomfortably in the silence, unsure of what to do. Ron looked absorbed in his food, glancing unobtrusively at Hermione every few minutes, as if she were on the edge of another breakdown and he wanted to be prepared for when she did. _Since when is Ron so tuned-in to her emotions?_ Harry wondered confusedly. _He's never gone through anything of the sort…_ But Ginny could tell that he was glad his best mate had some of the sense most thought he certainly lacked.

Excusing himself half-heartedly, Harry grabbed his bag and left the Hall. Hermione was so clearly devastated, which was fine. But the blatant reminder of what he, too, was missing, made him more than a little jealous of the Weasley family once more. He didn't even have parents to miss. When Sirius died last year, he lost one of the most prominent adult figures he had.

Slowly becoming more and more discontent, Harry stalked through the hallways with growing speed. Ginny didn't know what he was doing. Upon reaching the dormitory Harry had rummaged through his trunk, and brought out his Invisibility Cloak. She knew about its existence, but had never been under one before. She watched in the mirror as where Harry had once been, now was nothing. She observed as he slowly made his way down into the common room, and picked through as it slowly filled with people. He stood for several minutes by the portrait hole, waiting for it to open. Finally it did, and as Ron and Hermione slipped through, talking about something that was inaudible above the noise of the other voices, Harry snuck past them.

Once in the hallway, there was more space, by a long shot, but Harry kept to the walls anyway (for safety precautions). He wandered for an hour, then two. He roamed, poking his head in random doors, stopping by a painting here, a statue there, just stopping and staring at random things as they passed. His mind was strangely blank, he wasn't thinking; he was relaxing – getting away from everything that had been going on. Then he finally came to a room that looked different from the rest.

The door was shimmering slightly, as if it had a glowing charm on it, which made it stand out in the dark, gloomy hall – perhaps being why Harry had noticed it in the first place. Harry quickly looked both ways, to make sure nobody was in the area, and checked the Marauder's Map to be doubly sure. When all was clear, when Filch and Mrs. Norris were safely roaming the dungeons and the other teachers were securely shut up in their respective offices, he edged the door open. There were no charms on it, no spells, no tickling sensation like that of a numb limb, which would have occurred on most occasions. It felt normal – like a door.

Harry edged it open a bit more, making the opening large enough to slip through, which he did a moment later. Once in it, eyes adjusted to the dimness, everything came into much clearer view. It was a classroom, albeit a strange one. There were no windows, no ceiling lights, nor any torches on the walls. It was dark, but lit just enough to see by. There were desks shoved over near the walls, and a mirror in one corner, nothing surrounding it.

Harry's breath caught in his throat as he walked briskly over to it, letting the Cloak slip off in the process. He stood in front of it, and stared into it, drinking up the sight before him. It was different then it used to be, Ginny had heard from Ron before she started at Hogwarts what Harry normally saw in it, 'not too far off', she thought. Harry was standing there, looking like he did now, but behind him were three figures, Lily, James, and Sirius. 'No surprises there,' Ginny pondered shortly.

Off to his left was Ron, Ron standing with Hermione, both smiling at each other as they looked at him out of the corners of their eyes. Over on the right, was her, not just her, of course, that would have been too much for one night – if she ever got back to her own body she would surely faint immediately – her, standing with all the other Weasleys, save for Percy, whom nobody seemed to want to converse with anymore. She was wondering what all his meant, when all of a sudden, a loud voice interrupted her thoughts, Harry's thoughts, not his voice of course… or was it? She couldn't really tell anymore; it was all merging together.

"How could you, Sirius? How could you, Just _leave me_ like that? I _needed_ you! How could you?" He was repeating himself over and over again, breaking down into sobs of anger all the time "_How could I be so STUPID!"_ he finally yelled aloud. "I killed you! Why couldn't I have just remembered that stupid mirror when I needed to talk to you? You would have told me everything was fine! But no, I had to go and believe stupid old bloody Kreacher, and now, THANKS TO ME, YOU…" he trailed off as sobs broke into his voice once again.

Ginny saw all of it, an innocent in-stander, not quite a bystander, or at least, she wasn't until a moment later.

As Harry's rage mounted again, she felt her senses come free from his, she felt the strange feeling of her mind lifting away, disconnecting. Her vision went black and white; sound she heard was much clearer, much louder. And the last thing she saw before her mind zoomed off through the dark school was Harry's figure, angry, vengeful, and self-blaming.

Oh. My. God. This is an excellent chapter, Courts. It really is! Just... wow. Ha ha. Loved the whole Ginny/Harry thing, which was the main part of the chapter, really, but.. I do think Hermione's parents' death could be a little more focused on, personally. Unless it is in the next chapter, that is, but if it isn't, then... yes. It could use a little more detail. Over all, very, very scrumdidlidumptous! --Kat

Yeah, 'tiz addressed next chappy (among some other stuff… It's actually rather vague, but I've got a lot of editing to do next chapter, so I'll be putting more in). For awhile now, and as you've seen at the end of this chapter, it will be a lot've emotional responses to various things. It was fun to write, but I had to be pretty angsty. Anyway, I think I'll be posting it as is here, and I'll send it on to Annika from there. Thanks!

I agree; it's a great chapter. I'm highly impressed. You really squeezed a lot into a relatively short amount of pages. Things flowed really well, and I really felt drawn into the plot with Harry's thing.

I am a little concerned that the reaction Harry had to Hermione is a bit out of character for him, though. Yes, he's a bit of a selfish boy, but I wouldn't think he would be that inconsiderate to his best friend right after finding out her parents were murdered. If you've got an explanation as to why you did that, I'd love to hear it, and maybe it would make a bit more sense to me.

The ending bit, with the mirror and Sirius and the yelling and blaming was wonderful, though. That really seemed to hit Harry right on, in my opinion. Nicely done.

Yes, this chapter was a bit of a… Turning-point of sorts for everything. Characterization was defiantly a big focus of mine, as until now everyone has been quite out-of-character (particularly Ginny). Yeah, I'm not quite sure about the Harry-Hermione fight, particularly because I don't really have a good reason behind it all. The entire history of the mirror is… incredibly major to the entire plotline of history in this fic. It's all explained in the next chapter… but I'm afraid the few paragraphs loaded with information that Dumbledore's just explaining to Harry are incredibly boring. Do you have any tricks to spice this up a bit? I know that JKR usually has them figure everything out periodically, but I don't think that will work, because this is more background information, and stuff that won't be in books, because over the years it's been kept a secret. If you have an suggestions or recommendations, either now or later I would love some assistance. Thanks!

Um. Maybe have Dumbledore attempt to lead through the information. Like, ask guided questions that sort of get the answer without giving it all away? Does that make sense? Otherwise, it'll just have to be exposition, which is fine, because they won't be able to find out the information on their own.

Well, it's more of an explanation of history and such, like what would have happened they wouldn't know about. Normally this would be a great time to have like… something in class early on and then Hermione with her great knowledge of everything found in a book, but it's classified knowledge that nobody in the public will have known about, which is the problem I've run into…


	8. ISOE: Unforetold

**Disclaimer: **It's all J.K.R.'s. I own nothing but the creepy exhilaration I experience while writing it.

**Chapter 8: Unforetold**

Ginny sat up sharply and saw she was, as usual, in her four-poster, lying simply to wait for the time when she returned to her body. Beyond thinking this, she did nothing but stand up and take off. She had to find him before he did something drastic. She raced through the school, trying desperately to find her way to where she had been only moments before. She rounded corner after corner, attempting to retrace his steps (finding it nearly impossible, as she hadn't really been paying attention to where he had been going at the time).

Ginny rounded the last corner and did a quick internal rejoice to see the yellowish glow radiating off the door. She slowly crept up to it, peering inside to confirm her suspicions that it was, indeed, the same one. She edged her hand inside the door, grabbing the formerly forgotten Invisibility Cloak, and slipped it on. She then slid inside the room, barely fitting between the narrow crack between the door and the wall.

Once inside, Ginny was careful to move slowly and noiselessly to one of the chairs alongside the wall, which she took a seat in, prepared to make a move any second to prevent anything that she, well, needed to prevent. She could no longer see what Harry saw in the mirror, but could hear him muttering softly under his breath, when all of a sudden his voice rang out in the room.

"NO!" he was screaming to the ones nobody but he could see, regretting everything that had happened to him, everything that he thought he had 'caused.' Amongst feelings of utmost regret, Harry pulled his foot back and sent it crashing into the mirror. Amid his wave of tears, the mirror then shattered. Harry turned away from the broken shards and ran from the room, leaving Ginny behind to watch.

Harry had long-forgotten about the Cloak and hadn't stopped to get it. He had just broken the Mirror of Erised. Dumbledore would kill him; he was sure of it. His face blotched with tears, Harry ran up and down corridors- not knowingor caring where he was going.

As he rounded one last corner, he saw people ahead. He didn't want anyone to see him like this: red-faced and angry, in a bout of fear. He didn't know how he got there, but Harry suddenly found himself staring at the door in front of him, a very familiar door… the door to the Room of Requirement.

Slowly, Harry turned the handle to let himself inside. But rather than the normal collection of defense books and other materials, there was a squashy armchair (much resembling those from Gryffindor Tower) in front of a warm, cheery fire. There was a mug of steaming hot chocolate, and some warm biscuits to match.

Grateful, Harry walked over and sank into the chair as he drank deeply from the mug before him, its sweet aroma and just-hot-enough-but-not-scalding temperature warming his heart. Harry didn't know how long he sat there, nor did he care. Anyone worrying about him would just have to worry;he wasn't ready to return yet. But after awhile, he decided he'd better do so. After quickly washing his face in the basin that appeared in the corner, Harry stepped out the door and set off to return to the common room.

"Mr. Potter," a voice rang out behind Harry just as he reached the portrait hole. He whirled around and found himself looking straight into the eyes of the famous headmaster.

"Professor Dumbledore…"

He chuckled, "Yes, that would be I," his bright blue eyes twinkled, but there was obvious gravity hidden beneath the cheery expression.

"What is it?" Harry asked, feeling stupid – but still wanting to know why Dumbledore was seeking him out at such a time. Could he know about the mirror already? Harry mentally slapped himself, of course he could, that was probably what this was all about anyway. "About the mirror… I'm really sorry. I ju-"

"There is no need for an explanation." Dumbledore looked deep into his eyes, forcing Harry to turn away from the sheer magnitude of it all.

"But-" Harry started to interrupt, but stopped as his Headmaster held up an open hand, signifying his want for Harry to not continue.

"I'm sure all will be explained in time, butI believe you will find it more useful to follow meand make up for lost time." Harry briefly wondered what he meant, but didn't dwell on it. After all, Dumbledore was a man of many things – and when it came to speaking in riddles, well, that was only one of them. Harry silently followed the old man as they walked the familiar route to his office, walking up to the statue, which would soon spring to life.

"Sugar Quill."

Harry arose up the stairs, wondering why Dumbledore had come to seek him out. Pausing before the door, Dumbledore turned to him and gave a warning – brief, but equally serious as their talk at the end of last year had been.

"Harry…" Dumbledore didn't seem to have the wits about him that he normally did, but eventually managed to tell Harry that the scene coming up would be _interesting_, to say the least. Without further ado, he pushed aside the door to reveal a sight that Harry had been longing to see since he was one year old. A petite redhead sat in a comfortable chair, wringing her hands nervously.

"Stop that, Lily," a black-haired man with hazel eyes said irritably. "You're making me nervous."

"Well you should be nervous! You're meeting your son for the first time in fifteen years, and he has been through more than any of us can even have nightmares about. At least, that's what _Sirius_ here says."

"How many times do I have to tell you we can trust him?"

"I'll never trust him with anything less than a life," Lily said jokingly, but despite her tone, a silence fell over the room. It was at that point that all three seemed to notice an old man and a young, teenage boy standing in the doorway.

"Sirius!" Harry yelled out loud enough to be heard down on the grounds as he ran to hug his godfather. The two embraced, Sirius patting Harry on the back comfortingly. "What's going on? How… What happened?"

"There'll be plenty of time for that later. Right now, I think you'll be better off meeting…" Sirius trailed off, unable to think of how exactly to put this – but Harry understood.

"Mum… D-Dad?" He was speechless, but the situation didn't require words. The parents he had never known were sitting right in front of him, it didn't matter how.

Harry wanted to go hug them, but when he got there, he noticed a bit of a transparency to them. Not very much, so it was not obvious, but from close up they seemed to be a projection of sorts. He leaned over and hugged them anyway, and found them solid.

"What's going on?" Harry asked tentatively, glancing between his parents and Dumbledore.

Ron dashed down the corridor and through the doors of the library. Glancing around feverishly he looked for the familiar bushy brown hair that signified. "Hermione!" Ron shouted as he spotted her in a dark corner of the library.

"Hush! This is a library" Madame Pince reprimanded.

"Sorry," he added in a whisper, sinking down along the wall to join her on the thick-carpeted floor as he reached her. "You never opened your letter," he added, handing her the smoky-black envelope.

"I don't need to," she replied, burying her tear-streaked face in her knees once more.

He put his arm around her shoulder comfortingly and held the envelope to her. "Yes, you do. Please, Hermione. Just read the letter" he coaxed, putting his arm around her.

"I know what's in it" came her muffled reply, indifferent to his display of affection.

"Oh but you don't. Please, Hermione. Just read it."

"Fine…" She looked up, the tears making her face glisten in the shadows, and reached a shaky hand for the envelope. Slowly she opened it and read the enclosed message. With a slight gasp, her eyes widened as they quickly skimmed the rest and she abandoned the paper to throw her arms around Ron. "Are you serious?" she asked softly, looking deep into his eyes.

"Yes, Hermione. They're not gone" hesaid, his blue eyes melting into her brown ones as her tears slowly came to a halt.

And with no warning at all, she leaned in and kissed him.

"He looks so much like you," Lily said, tears glistening in her bright green eyes – a replica of her son's.

"Me? Excuse me, I do not have green eyes, thank you very much!" James retorted, avoiding being serious at all cost.

Harry was at classes – after all, he had his final exams in just a few months- parents, or no parents. He would meet them after classes in the hospital wing- where Madame Pomfrey _insisted_ they get looked over before letting them go. No one but Harry, and his friends knew about their return yet. The ministry was cooperating, but they couldn't be trusted for a little while yet. _No_, it was better keeping this hush-hush for a few days. Of course, like everything else at Hogwarts- It wouldn't be kept quiet for long.

"What time is it?"

"Two minutes after the last time you asked."

"What's that?"

"3:57."

"When'll Harry get here?"

"His last class ends at four."

"So…"

"He'll probably be here in ten minutes or so," she replied exasperatedly.

"What time is it now?"

"Shut up." Lily was getting annoyed by both James', and Sirius' constant complaints and whining. Sure, she couldn't blame them for their anxiousness, but they did get annoying after awhile… in a… cute, lovable sort of way.

Hermione pulled back, her eyes wide in horror. "I-I'm so sorry…" shestuttered, fumbling to her feet as she tried to stand up on shaky legs. "I shouldn't have, I'm such a-" But what she was Ron never found out, as a second later she ran away, simply trying to get away from him.

"Hermione, wait, don't-" He watched her retreating back, paying him no attention. "Don't go…"

"Hey, Potter!" The annoying voice he knew only too well echoed down the hallway behind him. He whirled around.

"Wha' d'you want, Malfoy?" Harry said, lowering his voice dangerously.

"I wanna know this: are the rumors true?" His coldgrey eyes stared into Harry's bright green as he tried to look menacing – not that Harry would tell him he wasn't, but…

"Might be, depends on what these rumors are saying exactly."

"You know what they're saying, Potter."

"'Fraid I don't," Harry said bitterly, "care to tell?" Malfoy just scowled at him and made to turn away, when a voice came from behind Harry.

"Why hello! I've been wanting to meet dear Lucius' son for a long time."

Hermione took off down the halls, cursing herself under her breath for being so stupid. "What an idiot… Now your friendship is totally ruined… You know Ron doesn't like you like that;he never will. Nobody will, but especially not Ron…" she told herself as she slowed her pace to a fast walk, glancing around feverishly for a place to get away. She had to go somewhere where Ron wouldn't find her… He probably wanted to get away from her as well. He probably never wanted to see her again. "How could I have just done that…" she asked herself, her eyes falling on the darkened door of the prefect's bathroom. Nobody would be in there at that time on a Saturday. Glancing around, she leaned against the door and murmured, "Winter Bright." Hoping desperately that Ron wouldn't come looking for her, she slipped beyond the pine door.

"Sirius, what time is it?" James whined again.

"Oh no you don't- you're not going to go after me too! Lily! Save me!" Lily laughed at both her husband's antics and his best friend's mock fear of him as the forty-one-year-old man ran to hide behind the chair Lily was seated in.

"Jamie boy just wants to welcome you back to the land of the living!"

"Firstly- it's _him_ who should be welcoming _me_, and secondly- _don't call me that_!" her husband said, sounding insulted.

"Sure thing, Jamie boy." Sirius flashed a grin.

James surprised them all a moment later when he shushed them suddenly.

"Wha-" Lily started to ask, but was cut off as James' hand rose to silence her.

A voice was coming from outside the door. "I wanna know this, are the rumors true?"

"I know that voice!" James was whispering to himself, "Oh gosh, I know that voice! Where have Iheard it before?" He was cradling his head in his hands as he thought.

"Whoa there, Jamie boy, don't burst any brain cells here. It's simple," Sirius replied to his rants as if it was obvious.

"Then wouldja mind telling me exactly _who_ it is!"

It was clear that James wanted to know, for some reason or other, so Sirius decided not to humor himself and just tell him.

"Let us think." Sirius said, sitting on floor, pretending to meditate, "Who do we know who has always been horrible… racist… Dark… chauvinist…"That was all James needed.

"_Malfoy_!" James shouted outraged. "What's he doing here?"

"Malfoy- Jr." Sirius corrected, still on the floor, his voice hardly more than a whisper as it imitated Professor Trelawney's mystical tones.

"Why is he conversing with our son?" James turned to Lily with a look of terror on his face.

"James-" Lily started.

Sirius sprang up, interrupting her loudly as he announced, "Jamie boy, old buddy, old pal! Don't you worry your not-so-little-head about it! Harry-boy hates the old bugger more then we hated dear old Snivellus! If that's even possible!" Sirius shouted, then pondered.

James let out a sigh of relief, "Good! But for the record…" He opened the door, and put on his best sarcastic voice, which could win any contest when it came to this (he had had years of practice after all!).

"Why hello! I've been wanting to meet dear Lucius' son for a long time."

"Who are you?" Malfoy's voice took on a surprised tone as he looked between James and Harry, practically twins with the exception of the eyes and a certain scar.

"Ah, forgive me for not introducing myself sooner! I'm-"

Harry elbowed him, giving his father a look that clearly said 'shut up you idiot,' which Harry was smart to do – as Dumbledore told them to keep it all under cover for the time being.

"He's… a distant cousin of my… uncle's, dog walker's… brother" Harry butted in suddenly, introducing his father in a… long, untrue, interesting way.

"Sure…" Malfoy looked confused, but Harry could see the gears working in his brain as he looked between the two- not believing what he was told.

"Mr. Malfoy!" a cold voice barked down the corridor, and everyone turned to look at its owner. "Perhaps now would be a good time to return to your common room." It was Snape.

"But Professor…"

"Now, Mr. Malfoy," he repeated sternly.

"Yes sir." Malfoy gulped and turned around- scurrying off.

"Potter," Snape snarled, glaring at James, "So the rumors are true."

"What is it with these rumors that nobody ever tells me!" Harry remarked loudly to nobody. He wasn't scared of Snape, especially now, with his father at his side.

"Why hello, Snivellus!" James said brightly, "The dungeons seem to have done you good! That is, if you consider barrels of grease in your hair and skin that looks whiter then a ghost's good."

"Arrogant," Snape sneered, "as always."

"I prefer the term _self-esteemed_ thank you" James corrected, using his fingers as a way to make a point.

"Both mean the same thingsuit yourself." Snape looked furious at the sight of his enemy.

"Actually…" James went on to state the differences, but Harry didn't stick around to hear them. He didn't want to get in any unnecessary trouble at the moment. He took the time to sneak around his father and slip into the Hospital Wing.

Ron dashed down the hallway, trying to follow the rapidly receding sound of heavy footsteps. He came to a T in the hallway. Glancing anxiously from left to right he decided to take the right corridor. _If I were Hermione trying to run away from me… Where would I go?_ His first thought was the library, but considering the situation he felt that he could safely rule that option out. Looking around, he quickly recognized the hallway, and then the door to the prefect's bathroom. _It's worth a try…_ he told himself as he walked up to the door.

"Winter Bright," he said aloud, turning the handle one hundred and twenty degrees to the left. He poked his head inside the door. "Hermione?" he asked, though the sound of low sniffling was all he needed to hear before he was inside the steamy bathroom.

"So, what's your old man doing out there?" Sirius eagerly questioned Harry the moment he appeared in the room. Harry just pointed at the door, as enough of an explanation was the noise coming through.

"Ah, Snivellus, fancy meeting you here," Sirius said as he strolled around the corner, leaving Lily and Harry to roll their eyes simultaneously.

"So Harry, how was your day?" Lily said conversationally. What did one say to their sixteen-year-old son, whom they hadn't seen since he was one, who thought (and was correct) that they were dead all that while?

Harry just shrugged and sat down in a chair by the window as he gazed out to the Quidditch pitch, where the Hufflepuffswere practicing.

Lily watched her son as he sank into the chair, looking out onto the Quiddich pitch lovingly, almost longingly. He had seemed so happy for the past day, since meeting them for what might as well have been the first time. There was a light in his eye, one that (according to Sirius) hadn't been there before.

"Oh, we got 'im good!" James said loudly, smiling as he came into the hospital wing again.

"You can say that again!" Sirius replied, sitting down next to James on his bed, lying back against the pillows. "So, how's life treatin' ya, Harry?"

"Very good as of late, actually." Harry grinned as he turned around again.

"Glad to hear it!" Sirius' infamous childhood exuberance seemed to be restored – something that had obviously been lost in Azkaban, Harry noticed.

James had a twinkle in his eye as he watched his son (who appeared to be less then a decade younger then himself). But he grew quiet as he thought about what was coming. Life had been tough on his little boy. Everyone knew that. From the moment he hadn't died, everyone had anticipated it. It was just that hearing the details from Harry's mouth himself that would be difficult.

"Harry…" James began, unable to figure out how to say it. Luckily, Harry seemed to realize the seriousness of the situation, and sat down, the laughter leaving his face instantly. "It… might be hard for you, but – all things considered. We need you to do something for us." James very much doubted he would see this as a favor to anybody, but it was – really.

"Of course, anything." Harry looked confused, wondering what to expect next.

"We need you to tell us everything about your past six years here… In detail."

Out of everything Harry might have been expecting, it wasn't that. "Well… sure. But… can't you just talk to Professor Dumbledore? He can tell you everything."

"Well, we could. But for one thing – I'm sure you never told him the whole story – or if you did, I need to teach you more then I thought." Lily slapped him with the back of her hand for that. "And, secondly, we need every detail you can remember – it's important. And thirdly… It's just not the same as hearing it directly from the hero himself." James smiled down at his son.

"O-of course," Harry looked startled, but touched all the same, "Where should I start?"

"How about from my horrid sister**_'_**s place," Lily said, snarling at the thought of her son growing up with _them._

"Um…" Harry didn't know what to say. Did he include all the weird stuff happening to him like turning his teacher**_'_**s wig blue? It was details, but they said _everything_… But, it was _normal_ for child wizards. Taking a deep breath, Harry began, and told them everything.

It was nice, having parents near your own age. They laughed at all the right parts, and Harry finished in what seemed like no time at all (but was actually several hours). He wrapped up telling his parents about recent events.

"And… I dunno what really happened…" Harry blushed deep crimson at this point, "But I just… got really mad at Sirius for… nothing really. Just…"

"Leaving you to deal with the prophecy alone" heinterjected.

"Er... Yes… and… I dunno, I just sort of… lost control." Harry was as confused as everyone else as to why his parents suddenly returned from the dead. It was supposed to be impossible. "Any ideas?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Well…" Lily fidgeted in her seat a bit, trying to figure out how to put it. "For starters, do you know what the mirror does?"

"Of course, it shows us the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts…"

The three adults in the room got looks of confusion over their faces. "Harry-" Sirius started to say, but was interrupted by the wise voice of the man everyone looked up to, Albus Dumbledore had entered the room with a smile.

"I'm afraid that's my doing." he said, a smile traceable on his wrinkle-lined face.

"What is your doing, Professor?" Harry looked confused.

"What did you tell him, Headmaster?" James asked instantly.

"Well, there's no real way of saying this easily, Harry." Dumbledore seemed to be bracing himself for the worst, not wanting a repeat of the previous year's "chat" in his office. "That mirror… isn't the Mirror of Erised."

"But it said…" Harry started to interrupt, but was once again cut off by the old man.

"It is an exact replica of the Mirror of Erised, in every way, except in its magical capabilities. That… particular mirror was invented by none other than Nicholas Flamel, himself. It was meant as a Divination… enhancer, you could say. Rather like a witch or wizard using a wand to enhance his or her own natural Magick's. It was meant to work with farsight- seeing the present, from far away, and foresight- seeing the future, and work much like a pensieve, taking visions, and putting them in a form that allows us to analyze them later on. But, he… made a mistake. Or rather, didn't accomplish what he meant to. Almost four hundred years ago, Nicholas worked with your Great-Great-Great-Grandfather, Francis Bentley, a famous seer of his time, as well as the only living descendent of Godric Gryffindor, to create it. It was his idea to make it look like the mirror of Erised, and in making it, one of the edges of the glass cut his skin. The powers of a seer flowed into it, and in short- the mirror tells the future. It shows us only what it feels most necessary that we know. Changed "then" to "than." Magick's – huh? I get why you want it capitalized, but I guess I don't know why you want it "ck." And also, no matter, it shouldn't have an apostrophe because it's just plural, not possessive. Changed "pensive" to "pensieve." –The ck I use when I'm talking about magic in a form that is uncontrolled and lacks understanding from the prior centuries. I've seen it used before, and rather liked the idea, though if you deem it necessarily it can be changed.

"When it went on display in the Magical Museum of Charming Achievements, people flocked from all over the world to catch a glimpse of their future, and that was only the beginning of the problems. It was getting dangerous; people were trying to change their futures, but what was showing in the mirror was fate. It could be changed, but most often it was for the worst. It was Bentley's son, Lucas, who finally figured out what to do about it. He looked at Nicholas' previous invention – the Mirror of Erised, and got the idea of changing it. It was too late to drain the powers from the mirror, and breaking it – such as you did, had unknown results. Together they charmed it, and what before showed the future, became what the gazer wanted. The real Mirror of Erised is hidden far from any prying eyes. That very reason is how you were able to get the Philosopher**_'_**s Stone back in your first year. It would have been far more difficult to enchant the original Mirror of Erised to do such a thing, as it would have been contradicting it's original… programming, so to speak. Your greatest desire has always been a family, and Voldemort's desire for the Stone could never change that.

"The twist in fate is this. As if life weren't confusing enough already, Balthasar Slytherin, Tom Riddle's Grandfather, managed to find the Mirror, and charmed it in… ways the rest of us can only imagine. The Slytherin line was destined for evil, and Balthasar knew it. He made the mirror to enclose all the seriously law-breaking things that his descendants did in such a mirror. Upon breaking it, you released them all. Were you to go to St. Mungo's you would find that the Longbottoms have regained their sanity, as well as several other patients. Those killed at the hands of Lord Voldemort – previously encased in the mirror, now have the chance to release their souls through the veil that you saw in the Department of Mysteries last June..

"The rest, we do not know, but I believe your parents and Sirius are with us once more because they were visible in the mirror when it was broken, despite the fact that Lord Voldemort didn't kill Sirius initially. However, nothing can bring them back to life. They are here in soul and mind, but as their bodies are unfit for possession of their remaining selves, they are mere reflections of them. Since nothing like this has happened before, we don't know exactly how it works, or how long they may be with us."

Harry was overcome by all this knew information. His head was spinning more than ever before. He was the descendent of Godric Gryffindor himself, the only one, excepting his father?

"Now, perhaps you would like to return to Gryffindor Tower. You undoubtedly have much to tell your friends," Dumbledore said, responding to Harry's deafening silence with a twinkle in his eye.

Without another word said, Harry rose and departed from the Hospital Wing, his head spinning.

Ron walked into the bathroom, looking around to see Hermione curled in a ball in one of the corners while the gigantic bathtub slowly filled with purple foam that he could have recognized as lavender from the _other_ side of the door. "Hermione?" he said softly, tentatively reaching his hand out and putting it on her shoulder.

"Leave me alone," she whimpered, burying her head in her hands as far as it could go.

"No… Hermione, please talk to me."

"I can't…"

"Why can't you?" he asked, challenging her in a mellow voice.

"Because…" She paused, waiting for words to come to her.

After a moment Ron laughed softly. "And so the great all-knowing Hermione cannot answer a question." She looked up, and glared at him. His heart meltedas he saw her tear-streaked face. "We're making progress now." He fought to speak clearly. "But please talk to me, Hermione. Why did you run away?"

"Because… Because I was scared."

"Why would you be scared?"

"Because I thought you would never talk to me again… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry… I know I shouldn't have done that… I had no right. I was just… I don't know. I just-"

"You don't have to give me a reason" he interrupted.

"But I don't want my stupidity to ruin our relationship as friends. I didn't mean to do that, and I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize. I understand… How that must be. I don't mind in the slightest."

"Are you sure… Because if you want me to just stay away from you from now on I will… I know it's awkward…"

"The last thing I want is for us to stay away from each other. We've been through trolls, escaped convicts, Dementors,Slytherins, and all sorts of evil beasts. I think we can handle one kiss," he said with a grin. She smiled.

"Thank you."

"No, thank _you_," Ron said, pulling her into a hug. "Now I'll leave you to your bath," he said, motioning towards the almost-fullminiature swimming pool. "I'll see you later."

"Alright. 'Bye Ron."

Oh my God... What to say, what to say? I absolutely LOVE this chapter; I really do! I mean... dear God... there was my two absolutely favorite things in the whole wide world in it: Lily/James'ness AND Ron/Hermione'ness... THEY KISSED! Holy fudgin' begeebez!

But... one question, I realize that Harry hugged Sirius, but not Lily and James. Yet, they're all supposedly only soul and mind - transparent, really. So, are they still touchable? Hmm... 'tis a ponderence.

Fixed!

I quite liked this chapter! So much there. At first I wasn't sure about the whole Lily/James/Sirius thing, but when I read through a second time, it grew on me, and by the time I finished betaing the chapter, I found I quite like it. So, yeah. And also? The Ron and Hermione bit was absolutely lovely. Sorry again for dropping off the face of the earth.

I had a lot of trouble with this chapter. I think every time I looked at it I found myself rewriting 90 of it and I fear if I look back more than briefly right now I'll do the same thing. I had a lot I wanted to fit in, and the only way I did was write three SEPARATE chapters and then combine them. I knew what I wanted to happen between Ron and Hermione, though each scene was rather short and spaced apart. I knew what I wanted going on with Lily and James, and Harry, and also Dumbledore. However, I just couldn't do it all from scratch. Honestly, if word processors these days weren't so easy to use I would never be writing stuff this long (though whether that's good or bad, I'm not sure). Thanks a million Annika!


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